18 www. b i o d i ve rs i tyj ou rn a L com ISSN 2039-0394 (Print Edition) ISSN 2039-0408 (Online Edition) Biodiversity Journal MARCH 2015, 6 (1): 1-418 bo w 1 w o r 1 C Ji v- i . ■ . O' | rt of FOR NATURALISTIC RESEARCH AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES 1 rvn 1 n ♦ * 0* * Carabus (Megodontus) imperiaUs Fischer, 1822 - Russia, SW Altay, Kalbinskiy range i % The Genus Carabits Linnaeus, 1758 (Coleoptera Carabidae). Cara bus Linnaeus, 1758 is a genus of beelies of the Family Carabidae. It contains about ! 00 subgenera and is highly differentiated in about 1 000 species and a very targe number of subspecies. Terrestrial and carnivorous Carabus are nocturnal predators that feed on snails, earthworms and caterpillars. The genus is widespread in the Oloartic Region but nearly all the species are native to the Paleartic. Carabus are adapted to live from the sea level up to 5000 m in the mountains, they can be easily found in all kinds of habitats except the deserts and the areas permanently covered by ice. Unable to fly they usually have reduced to rudimental wings, a very few species occasionally have individuals capable of flying; C c(a t raws, C. gramriatus and, probably, C mounts, which makes them excellent biogeograph ical indicators, Carabus are of medium to large size (12 mm to 65 mm) with developed mandibles and long and strong legs; the dorsal surface of the body frequently has a sculpture formed of three kinds of longitudinal parallel and symmetrical arranged striae and deep points; often the sculpture is very diversified and shows conspicuously morphological variations: totally erased, irregular, protruding ribs, with large and deep fovea, etc. Very often Carabus arc colorful and of fascinating beauty. For these reasons they arc so attractive and notable items for collections, in fact they have been collected and studied since, at least, 200 years. Carabus is one of the most deeply studied groups of Coleoptera, with a huge I iterature on their taxonomy, biology, phylogeny, ecology and biogeography. Nevertheless, the genus is still far to be completely known, in fact a number of new taxa are described every year especially from the most remote areas of Asia and many taxonomic problems are far to be solved. Ivan Kapuzxi. viaCialla 47, 33040 Prepot to (Udine) Italy; email: info@ronchidicialla.it Cover photo by A. Plutenko 1. Carabus (Megodontus) schoenberri sajanus Braining, 1927 - Russia, Siberia, W Sajan Mts., A. Plutenko. 2. Carabus (Megodonfus) leach i panzer! Dejean, 1 829 - Russia, SW Altay, Kalbin- skiy range, A. Plutenko. 3. Carabus {Limnocarabus) clatratus au- ra nie ns is Muller, 1902- Serbia, Voj vo d i - na, Ruma, Sava river, L Rapuzzi. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 3-6 First record of Mesophylax aspersus (Rambur, 1 842) from the Republic of Kosovo (Trichoptera Limnephilidae) Halil Ibrahimi, Agim Gashi, Linda G rape i- Koto ri , Astrit Bilalli, Milaim Musliu & Ferdije Zhushi-Etemi Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina”, “Mother Theresa” p.n., 10 000 Prishtina, Republic of Kosovo ’Corresponding author, e-mail: linda_grapci@yahoo.com ABSTRACT The distribution of Mesophylax aspersus Curtis, 1834 (Trichoptera Limnephilidae) ranges from Western Europe, Mediterranean region, Madeira, Canary Islands and up to South- western Asia. According to the present knowledge it is however almost absent from South- eastern Europe. In this paper we present first record of M. aspersus from the Republic of Kosovo. This is at the same time first country record of the genus. Unlike many countries where this species is present abundantly in our case it is extremely rare. A single adult male specimen of M. aspersus was found in an ultraviolet light trap at the Blinaje Hunting Reserve on August 23rd 2013. This has been a single specimen of this species caught at this locality during a one year monthly sampling of caddisflies with UV light traps and entomological net. Another male specimen has been caught on September 24th 2014 at the same locality. Streams and rivers in all parts of Kosovo were surveyed during the period 2009-2014 for Trichoptera species and currently the Blinaje Hunting Reserve is the only locality where this species has been found. The distributional area of this species has been considerably expan- ded by this record. The closest country where this species has been recorded is Bosnia and Herzegovina. KEY WORDS Mesophylax aspersus ; Kosovo; Trichoptera; Balkan Peninsula. Received 24.09.2014; accepted 12.12.2014; printed 30.03.2015 INTRODUCTION The genus Mesophylax McLachlan 1882 (Trichoptera Limnephilidae) is classified according to Schmid (1955, 1957) in Stenophylacini tribus close to genera Stenophylax Kolenati, 1848 and Micropterna Stein, 1874; this genus consists by only six species in the European fauna (Malicky, 1998; 2004). Species of genus Mesophylax are mainly dis- tributed in the Mediterranean area and radiate quite far to the West, North, East, South-west and South- east (Malicky, 1998). Mesophylax aspersus Curtis, 1834 has a distri- bution mostly limited in countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, occurring from the Canary Islands to the Near East (e.g. Schmid, 1957; Botosaneanu, 1974; Dakki, 1987; Bonada, 2004). From the biological point of view, adults of M. aspersus emerge in spring and undergo a summer diapause in caves (Bouvet & Ginet, 1969; Botosaneanu, 1974; Salavert et al., 2011). They do not feed during the adult stage, surviving most probably on the reserves of the adipose tissue accumulated during the larval phase (Bournaud, 1971). 4 Halil Ibrahimi etalii MATERIAL AND METHODS Data sampling and processing Adult caddisfly specimens were collected with entomological net and ultraviolet light trap. The sampling was carried out monthly between March and December 2013 and only casually during the autumn of 2014. Ultraviolet light was placed above the white pan of 60 cm in diameter filled 10 cm with water with a few drops of detergent. The trap was placed on stream bank and operated from dusk until next morning. Collected samples were pre- served in 80 % ethanol. The specimens were identi- fied under a stereomicroscope with determination keys from Malicky (2004) and Kumanski (1985, 1988). Specimens were collected by Halil Ibrahimi and were determined by Halil Ibrahimi. Specimens of M. aspersus were verified by Professor Hans Malicky. The collection is deposited at the Labor- atory of Zoology of the Faculty of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, University of Prishtina, Kosovo. Study area The territory of Blinaje Hunting area designated as special reserve zone is located in central part of Kosovo, 1 5 km on the western side of Lypjan town. The total surface of Blinaje special reserve is 5500 ha and stretches in the territory of three municip- alities: Lypjan, Shtime and Gllogoc. The altitude within this territory ranges from 670 to 860 m above sea level. There are 33 artificial lakes present inside Blinaje special reserve. The sampling site (Fig. 1) is located at the spring area of the only stream inside this area which is adjacent to the biggest lake inside Blinaje special reserve (42.5185°N, 20.9788°E, and 721 m above sea level). RESULTS Family LIMNEPHILIDAE Mesophy lax McLachlan, 1882 Mesophylax aspersus Curtis, 1834 A single adult male specimen of Mesophylax aspersus was found in an ultraviolet light trap at the Blinaje Hunting Reserve on August 23rd 2013. This has been a single specimen of this species caught at this locality during a one year monthly sampling of caddisflies with UV light traps and entomological net. Other species associated with M. aspersus in this sample are: Potamophylax pallidus (Klapalek, 1899) (10 males, 3 females), Micropterna nyctero- bia McLachlan, 1875 (4 male, 1 female), Wormal- dia occipitalis (Pictet, 1834) (1 male), Hydropsyche saxonica McLachlan, 1884 (2 males) and Hydro- psyche sp. (5 females); leg. Halil Ibrahimi. Another male specimen of M. aspersus has been caught on September 24th 2014 at the same locality with ultraviolet light trap. Other species associated with M. aspersus in this sample are: Potamophylax pallidus (5 males, 2 females), Micropterna nycterobia (1 male, 1 female) and Hydropsyche sp. (2 females); leg. Halil Ibrahimi. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS In this paper we present first record of Mesophy- lax aspersus from the Republic of Kosovo. This is at the same time first country record of the genus. The distribution of M. aspersus ranges from Western Europe, Mediterranean region, Madeira, Canary Islands and up to southwestern Asia (until Cachemira) (Malicky, 1998; Bonada et al., 2004). In the Balkan Peninsula the species is however rare. It has been previously reported from Bulgaria (Kumanski, 1988) but after a revision of this genus (Malicky, 1998), the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula seems to be inhabited by M. impunct- antus McLachlan, 1884 and not M. aspersus (Kumanski, 1997, 2007). The distributional area of M. aspersus has been considerably expanded by this record. The closest country where this species has been recorded is Bosnia and Herzegovina (Radovanovic, 1935). This record is almost eight decades old and in meantime despite detailed investigations in Bosnia and Hercegovina (eg. Marinkovic-Gospodnetic, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1978; Stanic-Kostroman, 2009), this species hasn’t been found any more. In Macedonia, a neighboring country to Kosovo, as in the rest of the eastern part of the Balkan Penin- First record of Mesophylax aspersus (Rambur, 1842) from the Republic of Kosovo (Trichoptera Limnephilidae) 5 Figure 1. Sampling site in Blinaje Hunting Reserve: A) Adriatic Sea Basin, B) Black Sea Basin, C) Aegean Sea Basin. sula up to the Western Anatolia is present a sub- species M. impunctatus aduncus Navas, 1923 (Kumanski, 1997). Thus, in the continental part of the Balkan Peninsula, Kosovo seems to be the border line between the distribution of M. as- persus and M. impunctatus. The species seems to be very rare in Kosovo. More than 100 localities (Ibrahimi, 2011; Ibrahimi et al. 2012 a, 2012 b, 2013) in streams and rivers in all parts of Kosovo were surveyed during the pe riod 2009-2014 for Trichoptera species and currently the Blinaje Hunting Reserve is the only locality where this species has been found. The abundance of M. aspersus found in Kosovo also seems to be low. Out of nearly 1100 caddisfly spe- cimens caught during 2013 and 2014 in Blinaje Hunting Reserve, only two specimens belong to M. aspersus. This is not the case in other areas around the Mediterranean Sea where this species is present. For example in the Iberian Peninsula the species is quiet abundant (Bonada, 2004). This record is a further contribution to the inventory of the caddisfly fauna of the Republic of Kosovo which is one of the poorest investigated areas in Europe (Pongracz, 1923; Marinkovic- Gospodnetic, 1975, 1980; Malicky, 1986, 1999; Ibrahimi, 2007; Ibrahimi & Gashi, 2008; Ibrahimi et al., 2012 a; Ibrahimi et al., 2012 b; Ibrahimi et al., 2013; Olah, 2010; Olah et al., 2013a; Olah et al., 2013b). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was partially financed by the Min- istry of Education, Science and Technology of the Republic of Kosovo through the project “Identific- ation of rare aquatic insects in some spring areas in Kosovo”, Project holder Halil Ibrahimi. REFERENCES Bonada N., Zamora-Munoz C., Rieradevall M. & Prat N., 2004. Trichoptera (Insecta) collected in Mediter- ranean River basins of the Iberian Peninsula: Taxo- nomic remarks and notes on ecology. Graellsia, 60: 41-69. Bournaud M., 1971. Observations biologiques sur les Trichopteres cavernicoles. Bulletin mensuel de la Societe linneenne de Lyon, 7: 196-211. Botosaneanu L., 1974. Notes descriptive, faunistiques, ecologiques, sur quelques trichopteres du “trio subtroglophile” (Insecta: Trichoptera). Travaux de flnstitut de Speologie “E. Racovitza”, 13: 61-75. Dakki M., 1987. Ecosystemes deau courante du haut Sebou (Moyen Atlas): Etudes typologiques et ana- lyses ecologiques et biogographiques des principaux peuplements entomologiques. Travaux, Institut des Sciences, Rabat, Serie de Zoologie 42. Ibrahimi H., 2011. Faunistical, ecological and biogeo- graphical characteristics of Kosovo caddisflies 6 Halil Ibrahimi etalii (Insecta: Trichoptera). PhD Thesis, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia, 185 pp. Ibrahimi H., 2007. The biological evaluation of the eco- logial conditions in the Prishtina River based on ma- crozoobenthos composition. Master Thesis, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Croatia, 122 pp. Ibrahimi H., Gashi A., Grapci-Kotori L. & Kucinic M., 2013. First records of the genus Micropterna Stein, 1873 (Insecta: Trichoptera) in Kosovo with distribu- tional and ecological notes. Natura Croatica, 22: 147— 155. Ibrahimi H., Kucinic M., Gashi A. & Grapci-Kotori L. 2012a. The caddisfly fauna (Insecta, Trichoptera) of the rivers of the Black Sea basin in Kosovo with distributional data for some rare species. ZooKeys, 182: 71-85. doi: 10.3897/zookeys. 182.2485 Ibrahimi H., Kucinic M., Gashi A., Grapci-Kotori L., Vuckovic I. & Cerjanec D. 2012b. The genus Rhy- acophila Pictet, 1873 (Insecta: Trichoptera) in Kosovo. Aquatic Insects: International Journal of Freshwater Entomology, 34 supl: 23-31. doi: 10.1080/01650424. 2012.643021 Ibrahimi H. & Gashi A., 2008. State of knowledge of investigations on Trichoptera larvae in Kosova. Ferrantia, 55: 70-73. Kumanski K., 1985. Trichoptera, Annulipalpia. Fauna Bulgarica 15, Bulgarska Akademi naNaukite, Sofia, 243 pp. Kumanski K., 1988. Trichoptera, Integripalpia. Fauna Bulgarica 19, Bulgarska Akademi naNaukite, Sofia, 354 pp. Kumanski K., 1997. Contributions to the caddisfly fauna (Trichoptera) of the central-western part of the Balkan Peninsula. Lauterbornia, 31: 73-82. Kumanski K., 2007. Second addition to volume 15 (Trichoptera: Annulipalpia) and volume 19 (Trichoptera: Integripalpia) of Fauna bulgarica. Historia naturalis bulgarica, 18: 81-94 Malicky H., 2014. Trichoptera, Caddisflies. Fauna Euro- paea version 2.6, http://www.faunaeur.org Malicky H., 1986. Beschreibung von vier neuen Kocher- fliegen-Arten aus der Turkei und aus Jugoslawien (Trichoptera). Opuscula zoologica fluminensia, 4: 1-7. Malicky H., 1998. Revision der Gattung Mesophylax McLachlan. Beitrage zur Entomologie, 48: 115-144. Malicky H., 1999. Bemerkungen uber die Verwan- dtschaft von Hydropsyche pellucidula CURTIS (Tri- choptera, Hydropsychidae). Linzer biologische Beitrage, 31: 803-821. Malicky H., 2004. Atlas of European Trichoptera. 2nd Edition, Springer, Netherlands, 359 pp. Marinkovic-Gospodnetic M., 1966. New species of Trichoptera from Yugoslavia. Bulletin Scientifique, Sec. A- Tome 11, No. 4-6. Marinkovic-Gospodnetic M., 1970. Descriptions of some species of Trichoptera from Yugoslavia. Annual of the Biological Institute of the University in Sarajevo, 23: 77-84. Marinkovic-Gospodnetic M., 1971. The species of the genus Drusus in Yugoslavia. Annual of the Biological Institute of the University in Sarajevo, 24: 105-109. Marinkovic-Gospodnetic M., 1975. Fauna Trichoptera SR Srbija. Zbornik radova o entomofauni Srbije, 1: 219-236. Marinkovic-Gospodnetic M., 1978. The Caddis-Flies (Trichoptera, Insecta) of Hercegovina (Yugoslavia). Annual of the Biological Institute of the University in Sarajevo, 31: 115-131. Marinkovic-Gospodnetic M., 1980. Fauna Trichoptera SR Srbija. Zbornik radova o fauni Srbije, 1: 71-84. Olah J., 2010. New species and new records of Palearctic Trichoptera in the material of the Hungary Natural History Museum. Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici, 102: 65-117. Olah J., Andersen T., Chvojka P., Coppa G., Graf W., Ibrahimi H., Previsic A. & Valle M., 2013a. The Potamophylax nigricornis group (Trichoptera, Limnephilidae): resolution of phylogenetic species by fine structure analysis. Opuscula Zoologica Budapest, 44: 167-200. Olah J., Ibrahimi H. & Kovacs T., 2013b. The genus Chaetopteroides (Trichoptera, Limnephilidae) re- vised by fine structure analysis of parameres. Folia Historico Naturalia Musei Matraensis, 37: 93-108. Pongracz S., 1923. Recesszarnyuak. Neuropteroiden. In: Csiki Emo Allattani Kutatasai Albaniaban. Explora- tiones zoologicae ab E. Csiki in Albania peractae. IX. A. Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia Balkan-Kutata- sainak Tudomanyos Erdmenyei, 1: 160-166. Radovanovic M., 1935. Trihoptere Jugoslavije. Glasnik Zemaljskog Muzeja u Bosni i Hercegovini, 47: 73-84. Salavert V., Zamora-Munoz C., Ruiz-Rodriguez M. & Soler J., 2011. Female-biased size dimorphism in a diapausing caddisfly, Mesophylax aspersus: effect of fecundity and natural and sexual selection. Ecological Entomology, 36: 389-395. Schmid F., 1955. Contribution a l’etude des Limnophil- idae (Trichoptera). Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft Beiheft, 28: 1-245. Schmid F., 1957. Les genres Stenophylax Kol., Microp- terna St. et Mesophylax McL. (Tricopt. Limnoph.). Trabajos del Museo de Zoologia de Barcelona, N.S. Zool, 2: 1-51. Stanic-Kostroman S., 2009. Faunisticke, ekoloske i biogeografske znacajke tulara (Insecta: Trichoptera) Bosne i Herzegovine. PhD Thesis, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sci- ences, Zagreb, Croatia, 151 pp. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 7-10 About the presence of the snow vole, Chionomys nivalis (Martins, 1 842) (Mammalia Rodentia Cricetidae),in Calabria, Southern Italy: data review and critical considerations Armando Nappi 1 & Gaetano Aloise 2 1 M useo civico di Storia naturale, via Cortivacci 2 , 23017 M orbegno, Sondrio, Italy; e-mail: armando.nappi@ alice.it ! M useo di Storia Naturale della Calabria e O rto Botanico. Universita della Calabria, Via P. Bucci s.n., 8 7036 Rende, Cosenza, Italy; e-mail: g aetan o .alo ise @ unical.it Corresponding author ABSTRACT The presence of CllioVlOlTiyS Tlivulis (M artin s , 1 842) (Mammalia Rodentia Cricetidae) in Calabria, the southern tip of the Italian peninsula, is reported in different literature sources, but the only Calabrian specimen, from Lago Cecita, Cosenza district, is preserved into M useo Zoologico “La Specola”, Firenze. A recent examination of this specimen, moreover, has shown that it is an Arvicold CllfiphibiuS (Linnaeus, 1 75 8 ) juvenile. The distribution of C. nivalis along the Apennines, requires adequate insights and critical reviews. KEY WORDS a P ennines; Calabria; ChiOflOmyS nivalis ; distribution. Received 19.11.2014; accepted 26.0 1.2 0 15; printed 30.03.2015 INTRODUCTION The snow vole Chionomys TlivCllis (Martins, 1 842) (Rodentia Cricetidae), is a species wide- spread from south-western Europe through south- eastern Europe to the W Caucasus, east to Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, W Syria, W and N Iran and S Turk- menistan (Musser & Carleton, 2005). In Italy it is present continuously along the Alps, while the dis- tribution area of the Apennines is more fragmented (Amori, 2008). Moreover, on the latter portion, some bibliographic data, such as few Abruzzo mountains as well as the Matese Massif, between Molise and Campania, should be confirmed by more recent research (Nappi et al., 2007). Further south, always along the Apennines, the question about the snow vole presence in the Calabria region, in the southern tip of the Italian peninsula, subject of this note, is of particular interest. The presence of the species in this region, in fact, was considered uncertain and debated for nearly half a century. From the literature search, the first value found is contained in a generic work on mammals, where snow vole is reported in Italy “ Sullc Alpi 6 SlilV Appennino, sino alia Calabria' ’ (“on the Alps and on the Apennines, until Calabria”), without further details (Scortecci, 1 9 5 3 ). However, this species is absent in other publications concerning Calabrian mammals (Costa, 1 8 3 9, 1 845, 1 847, for a correct dating of the issues of “Fauna del Regno di Napoli” written by O. G. Costa, see D ’ Eras mo, 1949; Moschella, 1900; Lucifero, 1 909; Pasa, 1 95 5 ) and Toschi (1965), expresses some doubts about its presence in the region. Afterwards, in a study about some birds of prey from Sila Grande, Cosenza, is reported the discovery of the predation rem ains near a nest of huzza rd Buteo bliteO Linnaeus, 1758, 25. V. 1971, consisting of “ cranio frammentario, denti e peli di Microtino, quasi certamente Microtus nivalis” (fragmentary skull, teeth and hair of Microtine, almost certainly Microtus nivalis ) , n o w synonymous with Chionomys 8 Armando Nappi & Gaetano Aloise nivalis (D essi F ulgheri et al., 1 9 72). T his m aterial is now lost and is no longer verifiable (P. Mirabelli, p e r s . com.). Afterwards, the presence of the species in the reg io n , based on a m u seal specimen, is repo rte d b y Amori et al. (1986). According to Amori (1993), “ these sporadic records could be confirmed by fur- ther and more specific research ” and in an other review, Amori (1999) indicate the species distribu- tion, in Italy, from the Alps until the central Apen- nines. M ore recently, the presence of the snow vole in Calabria, is reported in a mammals volume of “Fauna d'ltalia” series (Amori, 2008) and in the section of this species of the IUCN Red List (Krystufek & Amori, 2008). MATERIAL AND METHODS In this paper, all literature data, that it was pos- sible to find, were considered. In addition, the only Calabrian specimen, known by writers, was ana- lysed. This consist in a liquid preserved body, with relative skull, into M useo Zoologico “La Specola”, Firenze, n . MZUF-7448 (Cosenza, Lago Cecita, 18. VIII. 1970, Piero M annucci legit; head-body: 89 m m , t a i 1 : 5 7 m m ; ear: 10 m m ; h i n d f o o t : 2 2 mm). Of this specimen, skull and teeth morphologies were analyzed. Third upper molar and first lower molar, in particular, were compared with the molar morphotypes, identified by N adachow ski (1991), just in the genus Chionomys M iller, 1 908. RESULTS A recent analysis of the specimen above men- tioned, has shown that the tooth morphology (Fig. 1) is that typical of water vole Arvicola OITiphibiuS, (Linnaeus, 1 7 5 8 ) as well as the skull morphology, r datable to a young specimen of this species (Figs. 2 , 3 ) . A s confirmed, moreover, by comparison with skulls of juvenile specimens of water vole (Museo Civico di Storia N aturale di M ilano, nn. 1855, 1863, 1869, 1875, 4134; Museo di Storia Naturale, Uni- versity della Calabria: nn. SG35, SG 147, AS 164; Coll. Teriologica G. Aloise: n 615). DISCUSSION It seems that the snow vole has colonized the southern areas of the Italian peninsula already during very ancient times, perhaps the early middle Pleisto- cene. This is suggested by a finding at the site of Not- archirico, within Venosa Basin, Potenza district, characterized by the presence of archaic elements such as So rex c fr. runtoneiisis Hinton 1911 , Pliomys episcopalis Bartolomei, 1 970 and Arvicola Can- tianUS (Koenigswald 1973) (Sala, 1999). It is also useful to remember, in this context, the fact that among the small mammals, in Italy, Calabria is the southern distribution limit of different species (see Amori et al., 2008) some of which, of mountain en - vironm ent, with disjoint areal as Driomys nitedula Pallas, 1778 (Capizzi & Filippucci, 2008), or frag- mented areal as Talpa Caeca S avi, 1 8 22 (Aloise & Cagnin, 2003) and NeOmyS fodienS P enn ant, 177 1 (Aloise et al., 2005). T. Caeca and N . fadiens, pre- viously considered distributed along the central and northern Italy, but absent in the southern regions, were found only recently. Taking into account these assumptions, the presence of the snow vole, in Ca- labria, cannot be excluded, even for the lack of re- search in potentially suitable areas, such as, for exam pie, P o llin o M as sif an d O rsom arso M o u n tain s . Based on the results of the present work, and in the absence of some objective evidence, snow vole m ust be currently considered to be absent from this region. On the other hand, until now, all research related to small mammal fauna, have not yielded positive results regarding the presence of the species in Calabria (Lehmann, 1 96 1, 1 964, 1 9 73, 1 97 7; Aloise et al., 1 98 5; Cagnin et al., 1 9 86; Aloise & Cagnin, 1 987) and on the basis of more than 3.000 specimens of small mammals, collected over the entire territory of Calabria during 1983-2013 (Coll. Teriologica of the M useo di Storia N aturale of the Universita della Calabria and Coll. Teriologica G. Aloise), snow vole has never been found. With regard to Lago Cecita area, alt hough it was also the subject of several investigations that have provided more than 300 specimens from traps and 84 speci- mens fro m rap to rs pellets, C. nivalis has never been found. It should also be noted that in this area there are no environments suitable for the snow vole. Moreover, the presence of water vole, just around Lago Cecita, is supported by a liquid pre- served specimen (n. SG 147, Cosenza district, Spezzano Sila, Valle Capra, 18. VII. 1991) and by a 6 specimen from raptor pellets into Collezione Teriologica of the Museo di Storia Naturale, Uni- versita della Calabria, by a stuffed skin (n. 4020, About the presence of the snow vole, Chionomys nivalis (Mammalia Rodentia Cricetidae), in Calabria, Southern Italy 9 Fig. i. Right first lower molar (left) and right third upper molar (right) of the specimen MZUF-7448 determined in this paper as Arvicola amphibius ( see Fig. 2 for details). Figure 2, 3. Skulls (Fig. 2) and jaws (Fig. 3) in different view of juvenile of Arvicold amphibius (left) (Calabria, C osenza, Lago Cecita, 1 8 .V III. 1 9 70, P. Mannucci leg., Museo Zo- ologico “La Specola”, Firenze, n. MZUF-7448) and Chionomys nivalis (right) (Emilia Romagna, M odena, M onte Cirnone, 19. IX. 1990, C. Bertarelli leg., Museo Civico di Ecologia e Storia Naturale, Marano sul Panaro, n. 296). 14. VII. 1963) into Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano and by some observations (F. Pellegrino, 2012, pers. com.). The distribution of the snow vole, in central-southern Italy, certainly requires adequate deepenings but data about water vole, a very decreasing species in Italy, recently no longer found in different historical localities, are equally interesting (Cagnin, 2008). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We wish like to thank Paolo Agnelli (Florence, Italy), G iorgio B ardelli (M ilan, Italy), M ara C agnin (Rende, Italy), Antonio Gelati (M ara no sul Panaro, Italy), Michela Podesta (Milan, Italy) and Renzo Rabacchi (Marano sul Panaro, Italy) who have provided us some museum specimens, Andrea Maria Paci ( C itta di Castello, Italy) for the help in the lit- erature search, Gabrie 11a Bianchi and Livio Ciapponi (M orb eg no , Italy ) for m a king po ssib le th e realization of the iconography to one of the us (A.N.). REFERENCES Aloise G . & Cagnin M ., 1987. N uovi dati sulla corologia di ale une entita rilevanti della m ic ro m am m alo fa un a della Calabria. Hystrix, 2: 1-5. Aloise G . & Cagnin M., 2003. New southern distribution limit of Talpa caeca Savi, 1 822 (In s e c ti v o ra , Talpidae) in Italy. M ammalian Biology, 68: 235-238. Aloise G . , Cagnin M. & Contoli L., 1985. 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Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 11-16 Species composition of carabid communities (Coleoptera Carabidae) in apple orchards and vineyards in Val d’Agri (Basilicata, Italy) Agostino Letardi*, Silvia Arnone, Massimo Cristofaro & Paola Nobili ENEA, Unita Tecnica sviluppo sostenibile ed innovazione del sistema agroindustriale - Laboratorio gestione sostenibile degli agro-ecosistemi - Via Anguillarese 3 0 1, 00123 Rome, Italy Corresponding author, e-mail: agostino.letardi@ enea.it ABSTRACT An entomological investigation was carried out in an agricultural area, mainly apple orchards, of the Agri river plain, located in some municipalities ofBasilicata, Italy. Between 2012 and 2014, species richness and composition of carabid assemblages were investigated on the ground surface of differently managed (abandoned, organic, commercial and IPM) apple orchards and vineyards. Ground beetles (Coleoptera Carabidae) were sampled by means of pitfall traps. 1 28 8 individuals belonging to 40 species were collected, representing two-thirds of the carabid fauna of this area found in our and earlier studies. The species richness varied between 4 and 20 in the different orchards. The common species, occurring with high relative abundance in the individual orchards in decreasing order were: PterO- stichus ( Feronidius) melas (Creutzer, 1 7 99), Pseudoophonus ( Pseudoophonus ) rufipes (De Geer, 1 774), Brachinus crepitans (Linnaeus, 1 7 5 8), Harpalus ( Harpalus ) dimidiatus (P. Rossi, 1790) and PoeciluS ( PoecUllS ) ClipreUS (Linnaeus, 1 75 8). Most of the collected ground beetles were species with a wide distribution in the Paleartic region, eurytopic and common in European agroecosystem s. The assemblages were dominated by small-medium, macropterous species, with summer larvae. No endemic species were found. KEYWORDS ground beetle; pitfall trapping; bioindicators; conservation; agro-ecosystem management. Received 18.12.2014; accepted 26.01.2015; printed 30.03.2015 INTRODUCTION In the frame of the ENEA project AGRIVAL (aree AGRIcole ad alto VALore naturalistico dell’alta val d’Agri = high nature value farmland in upper Val d’Agri) (M enegoni et al., 2012, 2014), an entomological investigation was carried out in an agricultural area, apple orchards and vineyards, of the Agri river plain, located in the municipalities of M arsico V., Tramutola, Grumento N. and Viggiano (Potenza, Basilicata, Italy). The aim of this research was to investigate the Carabid assemblages. In Europe several studies gave faunal data on similar agro-ecosystems inhab- iting carabids (Kutasi et al., 2004); these studies indicate that variations in cultivation management leads to variations in carabid beetle assemblages. Although the spatial distribution of carabid beetles may be primarily determined by microhabitat con- ditions and biotic interactions at the local scale, identifying general patterns of carabid responses to different agro-ecosystem managements may help to understand how species, functional groups and as- semblages effectively distribute, and to predict how they will cope with current and future land-use and climatic changes (Brandmayr et al., 2011; Kotze et 12 Agostino Letardi et alii al., 2011). In previous studies in Europe the fol- lowing species were mentioned as common (Kutasi et al., 2004): Pseudoophonus rufipes (De Geer, 17 7 4), Harpalus distinguendus (D u fts c h m id , 1 8 1 2 ) , Harpalus tardus (Panzer, 1796), Nebria brevicollis (Fabricius 1 792), PterOStichuS melanarius (Illiger, 17 9 8), Poecdus cupreus (Linnaeus, 1758), Harpalus affinis (Schrank, 1781). MATERIAL AND METHODS Five traps were activated for a week every month in 12 sampling locations, from May until October. Sampling started on July, 2012 and ended on October, 2014. Locations have been selected according to the type of crop (10 apple orchards and 2 vineyards) and the managing practices (traditional, integrated and organic) (Fig. 1, Table 1). Due to logistic unpredictable problems, some of the locations selected at the beginning of the experiment (samples Aa, Ab and Ac) were not suitable anymore, and since 2013 were displaced with analogous locations, respectively samples G, H and L. Ground beetles were sampled using plastic pit- fall traps (500 ml and 100 mm the diameter of the top) buried in the soil and filled with 50 ml salt water. Pitfalls were covered with a 10 x 10 cm plastic roof to prevent flooding. The qualitative and quantitative data of the carabid assemblages, recorded in the orchards of the selected areas of Val d’Agri, were analyzed in three different ways: 1) the weighted average of different species in the total catch of the 12 samples; 2) the sum of the scores was calculated (where the most abundant species collected in an orchard were placed in decreasing order, and the dominant species, with highest relative abundance scored 8, the second one 7 etc.; the scores from different orchards were summarised by species: the highest possible score, if a species was dominant in all orchards, was [12 x 8J 96); 3) the presence or ab- sence of the species in the orchards was also in- vestigated. The most widely distributed species (which were found in 12 of the 12 investigated orchards) got 100% ; the species, which was collec- ted in 9 orchards, got 75% etc. Carabids were identified to the species level, if possible, following the nomenclature of Fauna Figure 1. Locations of sampled farms: Val d’Agri (Basilica ta, Italy). Modified from AGEA 2011. Carabid communities (Coleoptera Carabidae) in apple orchards and vineyards inVal d’Agri (Basilicata, Italy) 13 FARM code Lat. N Long. E destination management environment New Ager A a 40° 16’ 15° 53’ apple orchard conventional agro-ecosystem New Ager Ab 40° 15’ 15° 53’ apple orchard IPM agro-ecosystem New Ager A c 40° 16’ 15° 53’ apple orchard IPM ecosystem C ap uti Ba 40° 17’ 15° 49’ apple orchard conventional agro-ecosystem C ap uti Bb 40° 17’ 15° 49’ apple orchard conventional near a ditch F iorenti C 40° 18’ 15° 54’ apple orchard abandoned industrial zone F iorenti D 40° 18’ 15° 54’ vineyard conventional agro-ecosystem D o n z a E 40° 19’ 15° 49’ apple and pear orchard abandoned agro-ecosystem P i s a n i F 40° 20’ 15° 50’ vineyard organic agro-ecosystem T ropiano G 40° 2 1 ’ 15° 49’ apple orchard conventional agro-ecosystem Padula H 40° 17’ 15° 52’ apple orchard abandoned agro-ecosystem B osco G aldo L 40° 20’ 15° 50’ apple orchard IPM agro-ecosystem Table 1. Localization of farms samples and some their characteristics (Val d’Agri, Basilicata, Italy). Europaea (Vigna-Taglianti, 2013). Specimens, pre- served in alcohol, are stored in the collection of the ENEA Casaccia research centre. RESULTS Overall, 1,288 individuals have been collected belonging to 40 carabid species which represent, according to our elaboration of the available data (Casale et al., 2006; Letardi et al., 2014a, b), two thirds of the total carabid fauna reported for this geographic area. The species richness of the invest- igated carabid assemblages ranged between 4 and 20 in the different orchards: the weighted averages of different species in each samples were not stat- istically significantly different, nevertheless they show an evident tendency to increase in terms of biodiversity moving from conventional manage- ment farms towards organic and semi-abandoned, re-naturalized ones (Table 2). The relatively high biodiversity value in the conventional managed farm New Ager (Aa) could be an exception due to the very few number of samples (just 4, all during 2012) collected: in 2013 and 2014 it was not pos- sible to sample inside the New Ager farm, due to technical logistic impediments. Qualitative and quantitative data analyses have been performed among the collected carabid species following 3 methods: their proportion in the total catch of the investigated orchards; the scoring of the seven commonest species in the different orchards (total scores) and their presence in the orchards (distribution). The most abundant species was PteWStichllS melas (3 3%) followed by Pseudoophonus rufipes (2 0 % ), Brachinus crepitans ( 14 %), Harpalus di- midiatus (8%) and Poecilus cup reus (6%). The species which dominated the carabid assemblages (with the total scores) were PterOStichuS melas (80), Pseudoophonus rufipes (7 9), Harpalus dimidiatus (4 5), Poecilus cupreus (18), Brachinus crepitans (14), Carabus rossii Dejean, 1 826 (1 1 ) and Calathus fuscipes (Goeze, 1 777) (10) (Table 3). Pterostichus melas and Pseudoophonus rufipes were found in all investigated samples (100%), Harpalus dimidiatus was found in the 75% of the different habitats, Poecilus CUpreUS was found in the 67%, Anchomenus dorsalis (Pontoppidan, 1 7 63) and CalatllUS sp. pr. montivagUS Dejean, 1831 were found in the 58%, while Amara sp . p r. aenea (De Geer, 1774) and Nebria brevicollis (Fabricius, 1 792) were also quite common (50%). 14 Agostino Letardi et alii FARM code sam- ples average stan- dard dev. species num- ber New A g er A a 4 3.00 ±1.83 6 New A g er Ab 4 1 .50 ±1.29 4 New A g er A c 4 2.25 ±1.26 5 C ap uti B a 1 7 1 .65 ±1.27 13 C ap uti Bb 16 1 .75 ±1.39 13 F iorenti C 14 2.93 ±1.69 16 F iorenti D 1 7 2.00 ±1.84 18 D onza E 15 4.60 ±2.32 18 Pisani F 1 7 3.18 ±1.70 20 T ropiano G 12 1 .00 ±1.28 10 Padula H 1 3 2.92 ±1.98 17 B osco G aldo L 1 3 1 .38 ±1.12 10 Table 2. Weighted average of species biodiversity. It can be concluded that four species Pt6W- stichus melas, Pseudoophonus rufipes, Harpalus dimidiatus and Poecdus cupreus were among the commonest species in the investigated samples in respect of all three approaches. DISCUSSION Altogether, as a result of our investigations, 40 carabid species, representing about two-thirds of the whole carabid fauna reported in this area in our and previous studies (Casale et al., 2006), were found in apple orchards and vineyards of the medium area of the Agri river plain. Most of the collected carabids, both in the whole area and in each sample, were species with a wide distribution in the Paleartic region, eurytopic and common in European agroecosystems. The assemblages were dominated by small- medium, macropterous species, with summer 1 arvae; we didn’t find any endemism (Table 4). species Aa Ab Ac Ba Bb c D E F G H L Total score P. melas + 14.3 7.3 41 6.2 21.2 62.6 41 .2 18.8 52.3 15.9 57.8 80 P. rufipes 46.2 28.6 87.8 6.4 87.7 50 10.1 7.4 12.5 8.1 5.7 15.6 79 H. dimidiatus 37.1 5.1 + 14.4 13.1 23.5 + 8.1 6.3 45 P. cupreus 43.1 + + + 10.3 + 7.2 + 1 8 B. crepitans + 6.4 + + 50.5 14 C. rossii 9 + + 28.1 + 1 1 C. fuscipes + + 5.2 10.5 + 10 A. aenea + + + 5.8 + + 5 C. convexus 10.4 5 D. clypeatus 5.1 + 4 O. cribricollis + 5.1 + 4 C. preslii + + 5.2 + 3 specimen n° 65 35 41 78 65 52 99 68 96 86 333 270 species n° 6 10 4 17 5 10 13 13 16 18 18 20 Table 3. Relative abundance (%) and the total scores of the most abundant carabid species. Relative abundance lower than 5% were marked with +. Carabid communities (Coleoptera Carabidae) in apple orchards and vineyards inVal d’Agri (Basilicata, Italy) 15 Aa Bb D G Brachinus crepitans Nebria brevicollis Trechus quadristriatus Amara sp. pr. aenea Calathus circumseptus Poecilus cupreus Calathus fuscipes Nebria brevicollis Pseudoophonus rufipes E Egadroma c fr. marginatum Poecilus cupreus Pterostichus melas Amara sp.pr. aenea Harpalus dimidiatus Pseudoophonus rufipes Pterostichus c fr. nigrita Anchomenus dorsalis Harpalus distinguendus Pterostichus melas Trechus quadristriatus Brachinus crepitans Calathus circumseptus Ophonus cribricollis Poecilus cupreus Ab C Calathus sp. pr. montivagus Pseudoophonus rufipes Calathus fuscipes Acinopus megacephalus Carabus preslii Pterostichus melas Harpalus serripes Anchomenus dorsalis Carabus rossii Pterostichus cfr. nigrita Pseudoophonus rufipes Brachinus crepitans Carterus c fr. fulvipes Pterostichus melas Calathus cinctus Chlaenius chrysocephalus H Calathus circumseptus Ditomus clypeatus Amara sp.pr. aenea Ac Calathus fuscipes Drypta clentata Brachinus crepitans Acinopus megacephalus Calathus sp. pr. montivagus Harpalus dimidiatus Calathus cinctus Harpalus dimidiatus Carabus convexus Harpalus distinguendus Calathus circumseptus Poecilus cupreus Carabus preslii Nebria brevicollis Calathus sp. pr. montivagus Pseudoophonus rufipes Carabus rossii Ophonus sp. Carabus preslii Pterostichus melas Cychrus italicus Poecilus cupreus Carabus rossii Harpalus dimidiatus Pseudoophonus rufipes Cryptophonus tenebrosus Ba Pseudoophonus rufipes Pterostichus melas Ditomus clypeatus Agonum sordidum Pterostichus melas Harpalus dimidiatus Amara sp.pr. aenea Pterostichus c f r. nigrita F Harpalus distinguendus Anchomenus dorsalis C arabidae sp . 1 Agonum sordidum Harpalus serripes Calathus sp.pr. montivagus Amara sp.pr. aenea Harpalus sp. Carabus rossii D Anchomenus dorsalis Ophonus cribricollis Cryptophonus tenebrosus Amara sp. pr. aenea Brachinus sclopeta Ophonus ( Metophonus ) sp. Cymindis miliaris Anchomenus dorsalis Calathus cinctus Pseudoophonus rufipes Harpalus dimidiatus Brachinus crepitans Calathus fuscipes Pterostichus melas Harpalus sp. Brady cellus cfr. verbasci Calathus sp. pr. montivagus Nebria brevicollis Calathus cinctus Carterus c fr. fulvipes L Pseudoophonus rufipes Calathus fuscipes Harpalus dimidiatus Anchomenus dorsalis Pterostichus melas Calathus sp. pr. montivagus Harpalus distinguendus Calathus circumseptus Pterostichus cfr. nigrita Ccirterus c fr. fulvipes Harpalus sp. Calathus sp. pr. montivagus Cryptophonus tenebrosus Harpalus sp .pr. affinis Carabus preslii Bb Cymindis miliaris Lebia sp. Carabus rossii Agonum sordidum Harpalus serripes Nebria brevicollis Harpalus dimidiatus Anchomenus dorsalis Nebria brevicollis Olisthopus cfr. fuscatus Poecilus cupreus Brachinus sclopeta Olisthopus cfr. f uscatus Poecilus cupreus Pseudoophonus rufipes Cychrus italicus Ophonus cribricollis Pseudoophonus rufipes Pterostichus melas Harpalus dimidiatus Poecilus cupreus Pterostichus melas C arabidae sp . 2 Harpalus serripes Pseudoophonus rufipes Trechus quadristriatus Harpalus sp. Pterostichus melas C arabidae sp . 2 Table 3. Species collected in each locality (Val d’Agri, Basilicata, Italy). The common species in agro-environments investigated were the same as those usually found in field crops and which can be considered as “disturbance- tolerant” species. The number of captures, qualitative and quantit- ative data here reported have shown a clear tendency to be more abundant moving from con- ventional towards to organic managements, not sup- ported by a solid statistical analysis; therefore sampling more distributed in terms oftime and rep- licates would be necessary to provide more suitable data. 16 Agostino Letardi et alii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We wish to thank a large number of entomolo- gical colleagues of a web forum (www. entomologiitaliani.net; M. Agosti, L. Badoei, S. Biondi, S. Cosimi, S. A. Degiovanni, F. Di Giovanni, L. Forbicioni, G. Franzini, M. Gigli, G. Giovagnoli, M. Grottolo, P. Leo, C. M anci, J. Matejiecek, V. Monzini, M. Pavesi,A. Petrioli, N. Pilon, R. Rattu, R. Sciaky, M . Selis and F. Turchetti) for their help and suggestions; the owners of the farms where the study took place; Camilla Nigro, Piera Damiani and Giuseppe Sassano, of the ALSIA station of Villa d’AGRI (Italy), for their great sup- port in field work The study was carried out in the framework of AGRIVAL Project funded by Italian Government Grant according to Legge Finanziaria 20 1 0, A groalim entare art. 2 comma 44. REFERENCES Brandmayr P., Zetto T. & Pizzolotto R., 2005. I Coleotteri Carabidi per la valutazione ambientale e la conser- vazione della biodiversita. APAT, Manuali e linee guida, 34. I.G.E.R. srl, Roma, 240 pp. Casale A., Vigna Taglianti A., Brandmayr P. & Colombetta G ., 2006. Insecta Coleoptera Carabidae (Carabini, Cychrini, Trechini, Abacetini, Stomini, Pterostichini). In: Ruffo S. & Stoch F. (Eds.), 2006. Ckmap (Checklist and distribution of the italian fauna). 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LetardiA., A r none S., Cristofaro M ., Nobili P., Damiani P., Nigro C., Sassano G. & Menegoni P., 2014a. C arabidofaune in meleti e vigneti in Val d’Agri. In: Mannu R. (Ed.), 2014. Poster del XXIV Congresso Nazionale Italiano di Entomologia, Orosei (Sarde- gna), 9-14 Giugno 2014: 90. LetardiA., A r none S., Cristofaro M ., Nobili P., Damiani P., Sassano G., Nigro C. & Menegoni P., 2014b. C arabidofauna per la valutazione di agroecosistem i ad alto v a lore naturalistico: un caso studio in Val d’Agri. In: Alba E., BenedettiA., Bucci G., Ciaccia C., Pacucci C., Pinzari F. & Scarascia Mugnozza G. (Eds.), 2014. Atti del X Congresso Nazionale sulla Biodiversita. CNR (Roma, Italy) 3-5 Set 2014. Abstract-book, Paper # c 7 . 1 5 . [online] URL: http ://w ww. sisef.it/xbio/ Menegoni P., Iannetta M ., Giordano L., Iannilli V., Sighicelli M ., Colucci F., Tronci C ., Trotta C ., Cristofaro M ., Letardi A., Rapagnani M .R., Arnone S ., Musmeci S., Nobili P., Ponti L., Imperatrice A., Sassano G. & Damiani P., 2014. II progetto AGRI- VAL: aree AGRIcole ad alto VALore naturalistico dell’alta val d’Agri. In: Colucci F., Menegoni P., Trotta C., 2014. N atura 2000 in Basilicata: percorsi di “ c o n tarn in azio n e” tra natura, scienza, arte e cultura dei luoghi. Atti del Convegno di Aliano (M a ter a), 4-6 aprile 20 13. ENE A : 13 1. Menegoni P., Iannetta M ., Giordano L., Iannilli V., Sighicelli M ., Colucci F., Tronci C., Trotta C. & Letardi A., 2012. II progetto AGRIVAL “Aree agricole ad alto valore naturalistico: dalla in d i- viduazione alia conservazione”, una visione del rapporto tra agricoltura e biodiversita nella conver- genza delle politiche agricole ed ambientali. IX Convegno Nazionale sulla Biodiversita, Valenzano (BA), 6-7 Settembre 20 12. 34. Vigna-Taglianti A., 2013. Fauna Europea: Carabidae. Fauna Europaea version 2.6. URL: http://www. faunaeur.org Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 17-26 Paleontologic and stratigraphic data from Quaternary de- posits of Leghorn subsoil (Italy) Andrea Guerrini 1 *, Alessandro Ciampalini 1 , Simone Da Prato 2 , Franco Sammartino 1 & Maurizio Forli 3 'Gruppo Archeologico e P ale o n to lo g ic o Livornese, Museo di Storia N aturale del M e d ite rra n e o . Via Roma 234, 57 1 27 Leghorn, Italy; entail: agl8268@gmail.com 2 CNR-IGG Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse. Via Moruzzi 1. 56124 Pisa, Italy ’Societa Italiana di M alacologia, Via Galcianese 20H, 59100 Prato, Italy; e-mail: info@ dodoline. eu * Corresponding author ABSTRACT The Authors describe two malacofauna fossils attributable, on biostratigraphic and strati- graphic base, to Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene, observed by a drilling carried out in the east of the city of Leghorn, Italy. The malacological fossil association ofPleistocene was low in number of individuals but well characterized in the number of species; the one attributable to the Upper Pleistocene is related to contemporary associations already known in literature for Leghorn subsoil, and shows two species not previously reported. The malacofauna of the Lower Pleistocene is characteristic of the current coastal muddy debris; Tyrrhenian malacofauna mainly consists of allochthonous elements, from a “Posidoilio, meadows” and the deposition al environment is attributable to the Mediterranean current seabeds. The strati- graphy of the subsoil of the area differs from that known in literature, as it shows a single level of "Panchina" that rests directly above clay sediments of the Lower Pleistocene. KEY WORDS M alacofauna; Stratigraphy; Pleistocene; Leghorn. Received 24.0 1.20 1 5; accepted 25.02.20 1 5; printed 30.03.20 1 5 INTRODUCTION The present study is part of a project examining the malacofauna found in sediments forming the subs tr ate of the city of Leghorn (Italy) which is not always investigable directly. This is mainly because of the closure, at the end of the nineteenth century, of all the quarries, and the rapid development, during the last century, of the city itself, which resulted in the obliteration of the last outcrops. In the second half of 1 900 were published a few pa- pers of malacology, including one related to the excavation of the dry dock of the “Torre del Fanale” (Barsotti et al., 1 974). Therefore, the study of the malacofauna of Leghorn subsoil can be carried out only by analysing new successions, even within the town limits, to refine the knowledge on biotic fossils and compare them with those already known. Recently, have been published data on two new sections, one at the immediate northeast outskirts of the town in locality “Vallin Buio” (Ciampalini et al., 2014a), where the Tyrrhenian sediments rest directly on those of the Pliocene, and the other one from an excavation inside the town, near the section studied herein, and called section “via Gram sci” from its location (Ciampalini et al., 2014b), in which is highlighted a malacofauna contained in the top level of the "Panchina" formation. The present paper describes the discovery of two unpublished fossil malacofauna in deposits attrib- Andrea Guerrini etalii 1 8 uted to Low er Pleistocene and the Upper Pleistocene. These deposits were brought to light during the execution of a geological drilling for the geotech-nical characterization of the subsoil and herein named, sec- tion “via M anasse” (Figs. 1,2). W ithin the sed irn en ts, in addition to molluscs, were recovered ostracods and foram inifera, whose study was carried out to assess the c hron o s tratig rap h ic framework of the sediments and their paleoenvironmental characterization. Geological framework In the subsoil of Leghorn, in a modest layer of reddish sands (“Sabbie di D o n o r a tic o ” ) , there are up to two calcarenitic sands (Panchina) which, on the basis of stratigraphic and faunal evidence, are generally attributable to the Tyrrhenian (M alatesta, 1942; Barsotti et al., 1974; Ciampalini et al., 2006). The levels of "Panchina" belong to a morpholo- gical element known in the literature as "Terrazzo di Livorno" (Barsotti et al. , 1974; Lazzarotto et al., 1 990), interpreted as a polycyclic marine terrace (Federici& Mazzanti, 1995) that developed during the stage 5 of the marine isotope stratigraphy ("marine isotope stage 5") (Chen et al., 1991; Antonioli et al., 1999). The subs tr ate of this ter race consists of sediments related to the Lower Pleisto- cene that, based on fossil remains found on several occasions, were attributed to the “Formazione di Morrona” (Bossio et al., 1981; Dall'Antonia et al., 2004; Boschian et al., 2006). MATERIAL AND METHODS The sediments analyzed originate from a drilling, the location of which is shown in figure 1, carried out for the geological and geotechnical assessment of the subsoil (Fig. 2). The fossil shells were collected directly from sediments or after washing them. Considering the small amount of sedimentary m ate rial available, it has not been pos- sible to recover a large number of complete speci- mens of large dimensions. For measures of shells we used the following abbreviations: d = m ax irn urn diarn eter; 1 = m ax irn urn Simplified Description of Map Units H olocene units Upper Pleistocene continental units Upper Pleistocene marine units Middle Pleistocene continental units Pliocene units Miocene units Ligurian units LIGURIAN SEA LEGHORN Via Bacinodi carenaggio i Figure 1. Geological sketch map and location of the investigated borehole from “Via Manasse” (43°33'01” N-10°19 , 16”E). Paleontologic and stratigraphic data from Quaternary deposits of Leghorn subsoil (Italy) 19 width; h = maximum height. The measurements are in millimeters and the specimens figured are numbered in Table 1. Abbreviations used to indicate the marine biotic communities are according to Peres & Picard (1964): HP, biocenosis of photophilic algae; SGCF, biocenosis of coarse sands with influence ofbottom currents; VTC, biocenosis of coastal terrigenous muds. The listofTyrrhenian molluscs found in this study, reported in Table 1, is compared with those of other locations recently studied, i.e. “Vallin Buio” and “via Gramsci” (Ciampalini et al., 2014a, 2014b), and with that of the careening basin of the “Torre del Fanale” which is, to date, the largest excavation (Barsotti et al., 1 974). The studied material is deposited, with the cata- lognumberMSNM 827, at the Museum ofNatural History of the Mediterranean in Leghorn. Were weighed 150 g of anhydrous material, employed for the m icro p alaeo n to lo g ic al analysis. The samples were disgregated in water at 100 °C, filtered in sieves with meshes netof 74 pm and then dried in oven at 70 °C . The m ic ro p ala e o n to lo g ic al analysis was conducted primarily on foraminifera and ostracods. As for the b io s tra tig r a p h ic and pa- laeoecological appearance of identified taxa, ref- erence is made to the main available papers (Ruggieri, 1973; Dali 'Antonia et al., 2004; Guernet, 2005; Faranda & Gliozzi, 2008). RESULTS In the sequence under consider ation, starting from ground level, have been recognized seven lithological intervals listed below, from which three samples, indicated with the abbreviations MAN1, M AN2 and M AN 3, respectively, were collected, at different elevations (Fig. 3), for m icrop alae on to - logical analysis. Interval 1 (0-0.80 m): dark brown sands, with nodules of Mn. In the first 10-15 cm, dark in color due to the presence of coal, are visible brick frag- ments that indicate a very recent age; Interval 2 (0.80-1.10 m): sand with fragments of wood and sand with gravel; Interval 3 (1.10-3.80 m): ocher sandy silt with Fe-M n nodules and rare levels of gravel. This level becomes darker in the upper part; Fig. 2. Core photograph, showing the first 5 meters from ground level; the arrow indicates the portion of the borehole where it was found the Tyrrhenian malacofauna described Current Soil Donoratieo Sands Rio Maggione Conglomerates Castiglionccllo Calcarenites (Panchina I) Monona Formation (5) Marine molluscs i-J Samples Man! Tt 1 T M 1 T ’ a S G Figure 3. Stratigraphic column of the borehole from "Via Manasse”; sample position is shown; a - Shales, S - Sands, G - G ravels Interval 4 (3.80-4.50 m): beige calcareous sand, fossiliferous. From this level the sample MAN1 was taken ; Interval 5 (4. 5-4. 7 m): gray-blue sand. From it the sample MAN2 was taken; Interval6 (4.7-10 m): gray blue clayish siltwith sandy fossiliferous levels; at 6 m of depth is present a decimeters level of gravel ocher in color. From this range the sample MAN3 was taken; Interval 7 (10-20 m): gray bluish clay silt with rare fossils. 20 Andrea Guerrini etalii By m icrop alae o n to lo g ic al analysis conducted on the sample MAN1, taken within the interval 4, it was observed a m alacofauna consisting of few individuals, in good conditions, representing fifteen species of gastropods and four bivalves; the full list is shown in Table 1. By comparison of the species observed with those reported for coeval sections recently described, and those listed for the larger “Bacino di Carenaggio” (see Barsotti et al., 1974; Ciampalini et al. , 2014a, 2014b), it appears the presence of two species not previously reported, i.e. Gibbula turbinoides (Deshayes, 1835) and Fusinus pulchelluS (Philippi, 1 844). Within Foram inifera, the conservation status varies widely, from good to bad; frequently, indi- viduals of Elphidium crispum (Linnaeus, 1 75 8 ) were found associated with common represent- atives of Elphidium spp., Ammonia parkinsoniana (d'Orbigny, 1 8 39 ), Ammonia beccarii (L innaeus, 1 75 8), Ammonia spp. The residue of the washing consists of a medium coarse sand, white in color. Granules are formed by lithics, quartz and fossil fragments (molluscs, echinoids, foram inifera) very elaborate, subspherical and with traces of erosion. Noteworthy, part of the components of the sand are cemented forming agglomerates. The analysis conducted on the sample MAN2, from interval 5, allowed to recognize a rich and diversified association of frequent specimens of Loxoconcha SubmgOSa{R\iggieri, 1 977), with spe- cimens o f Aurilalanceaeformis {UUczny, 19 69), A. convexa (Baird, 1850), Pterigo cythereis, Cytherop- teTOn Sulcatum (Bonaduce, Ciampo et Masoli, 1 9 7 6), C. latum (Muller, 1 894), Paracytheridea c f . hexalpha (D oruk, 1 9 8 0 ) , and represen tativ es o f the rare species Cimbaurila cimbaefarmis { Seguenza, 1 8 83 ), among the ostracods. Moreover, specimens belonging to the Foraminifera genera Elphidium , Ammonia , Dorothia , Cassidulina have been collec- ted. The residue of washing is made up of a sand with a grain size ranging from fine to coarse and gray in color. The granules are complex, mainly made of lithic s . The sample MAN3, from the interval 6, com- prises a fossil association rich either in number of specimens or in number of species. Were found nu- merous specimens of LoXOCOUCha SubvUgOSa, and valves belonging to the genera Auvila , PtCVigO- cythereis, Cytheropteron , Bosquetina , Buntonia (Ostracoda); specimens belonging to the genera Elphidium, Ammonia, Dorothia, Cassidulina and to the species Hyalinea baltic (Schroeter, 1 78 3) (Fo- raminifera) were collected. In addition, frequent remains of echinoids, bryozoans and molluscs were observed. Among these have been identified the species Turritella tricarinata (b roc chi, 1 8 1 4 ) (Fig. 4 8), Nassarius gigantulus (B ellardi, 1 8 8 2 ) (Figs. 49, 50) and Corbula gibba (O livi, 1 792) (Figs. 5 1, 52). The residue of washing is a gray sand with a particle size ranging from fine to coarse. Sand grains are mainly composed of lithics and fossil r e m a in s . DISCUSSION The result of the micropalaeon to logical ana ly sis of the samples MAN2 and MAN3, from the intervals 5 and 6, indicate associations typical of a marine environment of the shallower part of the internal platform. Furthermore, the discovery of significant species as Aurila lance aefarmis, Cimbaurila cimbaefarmis, Loxoconcha subrugosa, Hyalinea baltica allow to attribute the lower part of the succession to the lower Pleistocene, in par- ticular to the “Calabriano p . p . (Emiliano)”, in agreement with the presence of the gastropod NaSSariuS gigantulus that disappears at the top of the “Emiliano” (Ragaini et al., 2007). In levels 5 and 6 have been identified, as the most significant species, Turritella tricarinata, Nassarius gigantulus and Corbula gibba which fo r m a common association in sediments of the Lower Pleistocene attributable to the VTC biocenosis. Lithological characteristics and micro - macropa- leontologic associations, allow to report the litholo- gical interval 4 to the formation known as "Panchina", widespread in the area, and attributed to the Late Pleistocene (Tyrrhenian). Fossil Mollusca referable to the Tyrrhenian, as P ersististrombus latUS (Gmelin, 1791) and CoUUS emineUS (B o r n , 1 778), have been reported by Malatesta (1 942) in a sand fro m th e bo tto m of a we 11 dug in the Hospital of Leg- horn, in the vicinity of the succession under study. The small number of bivalves (only four species) found in this interval is not significant itself, but, taking into account the fifteen species of gastropods in common with the other sections already known in literature, and considering their sediments, the Tyrrhenian fossil association is Paleontologic and stratigraphic data from Quaternary deposits of Leghorn subsoil (Italy) 2 1 GASTROPODA Cuvier, 17 95 via Manasse via Gramsci (C iam palini et al., 20 14a) Vallin Buio (C iam palini et al., 2014a) Bacino care- naggio (B arsot- ti et al., 1 9 7 4) Figures Tectura virginea to . f. m tiller, 1 7 76) * * 4-6 Jujubinus exasperatus (Pennant, 1777 ) * * * * 7, 8 Gibbllla turbinoides (Deshayes, 1832) * 9-11 Bolma rugosa ( L in n e , 1767) * * * * 1 2 Tricolia tenuis (Michaud, 1829) * * * 13, 14 Bittium reticulatum (Da Costa, 1 7 7 8 ) * * * * 15-18 Bittium latreillii (Payraudeau, 1 8 2 6) * * 19,20 Cerithium vulgatum b rug uiere , 1792 * * * * Rissoa variabilis (Won Muhifeidt, 1 8 2 4 ) * * 2 1,22 Rissoa sp. * 23 Alvania mamillata r is s 0 , 1 8 2 6 * * * 24,25 Alvania discors (Allan, 1 8 1 8 ) * * * * 26,27 Alvania cimex (Linnaeus, 1 75 8) * * 28,29 Rissoina bruguieri (Payraudeau, 1826) * * 3 0, 31 Columbella rustica (Linnaeus, 1758) * * * 32,33 FusinUS pulchellus (Philippi, 1 8 44) * 34-36 Vexillum ebenus (Lamarck, 1811) * * 37,38 BIVALVIA Linnaeus, 1758 Striarca lactea (Linnaeus, 1758) * * * * 39-42 Glycymeris sp. * * * * 43,44 Chama gryphoides (Linnaeus, 1758) * * 46,47 Parvicardium exiguum (G m eiin, 1 79 1 ) * * * * 45 Table 1. List of fossil molluscs from Tyrrhenian found in the survey of “via Manasse”, compared with those found in sections of “via Gram sci”, “Vallin Buio and “Bacino di Carenaggio”. compatible with a biocenosis of the SGCF type, with specimens from the HP biocenosis. These data confirm those already found in previous studies on similar samples (Barsotti et al., 1974; Ciampalini et a 1 . , 2014a; Ciampalini et al. 2014b) and what re- ported by Corselli (1981) for the current seabed of the Gulf of Baratti (LI ). By comparing the lists of molluscs of the Upper Pleistocene, relative to the locations of the territory of Leghorn and reported in the above mentioned papers (Table 1), it can be seen that the species in common are nearly all, with the exception of RisSOCl variabilis (Von Muhifeidt , 1 824) and Vexillum ebeniiS (Lamarck, 1811), which are absent in the deposits of “ via Gramsci” and “Vallin Buio”, but present at the “Bacino di carenaggio”; RisSOitlCl bruguieri (Payraudeau, 1 826) present in “ v ia G ram - sci”, but absent in “Vallin Buio” and the “Bacino di carenaggio” and, finally, Glbbulci tUvbinoidcS and FusinUS pulchellus absent in all other locations. As for the failure of a previous report of Bittiutfl latreillii { Payraudeau, 1826), we assumed that the 22 Andrea Guerrini etalii Figs. 4-6. Tectura virginea (O . F. M tiller, 1776)d = 3.3, h = 1.7. Figs. 7, 8. Jujubinus exasperatus (Pennant, 1777)d = 4.8, h = 6.5. Figs. 9-11. Gibbulu turbinoides (Deshayes, 1835) d = 3.9, h = 3.6. Fig. 12. BolfflCi TUgOSQ, (Linnaeus, 1767) operculum d = 6. Figs. 13, 14. Tricolia tenuis (Michaud, 1 8 2 9) d = 4,h = 7.1. Figs. 15-18. BittUim reticuldtlim (Da Costa, 1778), Figs. 15, 16 : d = 3.2, h =10.8; Figs. 17, 18: d = 2 .6 , h = 7.3. Figs. 19,20. Bittiuni lotveillH (Payrau deau, 1826) d = 2.4, h = 7.9. Paleontologic and stratigraphic data from Quaternary deposits of Leghorn subsoil (Italy) 23 Figs. 21 , 22 . Rissoa variabilis (Von Miihlfeldt, 1 824) d = 2, h =3.9. Fig. 23. RisSOCl sp. d = 1.6, h = 4.2. Figs. 24, 25. Alvania mamillata Risso, 1826 d = 3 . 2 , h = 5 . Figs. 26, 27 . Alvania discors (Allan, 18 18 ) d = 2 . 5 , h = 4; Figs. 28 , 29 . Alvania cimex (Linnaeus, 1758) d = 2.3, h = 4.4; Figs. 30, 31. RisSOinCl bvugllieri (Payraudeau, 1826) d = 2.6, h = 6.8. Figs. 32, 33. Co- lumbella rustica (Linnaeus, 1 75 8) d = 3.3, h = 4.9. Figs. 34-36. FusiriUS pulchelluS ( Philippi, 1 844) d = 2.0 m m , h =5.5 mm. 24 Andrea Guerrini etalii Figs. 37, 38. Vexillum ebenus (Lamarck, 1811) d = 4, h = 8.2. Figs. 39-42 Striarca IdCtea (Linnaeus, 1 758), Figs. 39, 40: 1 = 4.9, h = 3.5; Figs. 41, 42: 1 = 6.2, h = 3.9. Figs. 43, 44. Gfycymeris sp. 1 = 4.1, h = 3.9; Fig. 45. Parvicardilim exigUUm ( Gmelin, 1791) 1 = 7.3, h = 6.3; Figs. 46, 47. Chama gryphoideS (Linnaeus, 1758)l=5.3,h = 4.7;Fig.48. Tlirritella tricarimta (B rocchi, 1 8 1 4) d = 4.8, h = 1 1 ; Figs. 49, 5 0. NaSSCiriuS gigantulllS (B ellardi, 1882)d = 1 .3, h =2.5. Figs. 51,52. Corbuld gibba (Olivi, 1792)1= 9.4,h = 8.3. Paleontologic and stratigraphic data from Quaternary deposits of Leghorn subsoil (Italy) 25 species may have been confused with B. F6ticU- latum (Da Costa, 1778). Gibbula turbinoides and Fusinus pulchellus , exclusive of the succession of “via Manasse”, are compatible with the habitat of “posidonieto” as one lives at low depth under the rocks and on seagrass, and the other between the Posidonia oceanica ( L.) Delile rhizomes. The overall available data and m icropalaeonto- logical analysis confirm, for the level of "Panchina", a shallow marine habitat at high energy, with rocky substrates alternating to sandy ones, in proximity of or mixed to seagrass meadows. Even for the micro- palaeontological association of the sample collected in the limes to n e (interval 4), the conservation status of the fossils and the structure of the granules of sand confirm the hypothesis of the occurrence of a marine environment at high energy. Contrary to other Tyrrhenian fossilmalacofauna found in the Leghorn area and atthe same s tratigra- phic level, which are generally poorly preserved (Ciampalini et al., 2014a, 2014b), the association of “via Manasse” is composed of specimens little eroded and often with traces of original coloring. This, combined with the finer grain size of the sediments, although still corroborating the hypothe- sis of a marine environment at high energy, may indicate a lower transport and consequently a marine environment more stable and little deeper than that assumed for the neighboring area of “via Gramsci”, characterized, instead, by shoals of "Panchina" quite compact. The lithological study of the drilling revealed peculiar stratigraphic characteristics partly different from those previously reported (Barsottietal. 1974; Ciampalini et al., 2006; Ciampalini et al., 2014b). The drilling of “via M anasse” shows, in fact, only one level of “Panchina” (lithological interval 4), whereas former studies have often described two levels, separated by a layer of clay and silt of continental environment (Barsotti et al. 1 974; Zanchetta et al., 2004; Ciampalini et al., 2006). On the other hand, only one level has been observed in the successions close to the ancient cliffs and at higher altitudes. The presence of the Lower Pleisto- cene, at the bottom of the drilling, enriches our knowledge on the stratigraphy of the area that, to day, is still poo rly known. As already repo r ted, in stratigraphic levels below the "Panchina” it is pos- sible to found sediments of both Pliocene and Lower or M id die Pleistocene. CONCLUSIONS The lithological study of the drilling revealed seven major lithological intervals. M icropalaeonto- logical and lith o s tr atig r ap h ic analyses allowed to attribute the intervals 7-5 to the Form ation of Morrona (Lower Pleistocene, Calabrian) and the lithological interval 4 to the Formation of the “Calcareniti of C a s tig lio n c e llo ” (Upper Pleisto- cene), also known as "Panchina". The intervals 3 and 2 are attributed, on the basis of observations on site, to the formation of con- glomerates of Rio Maggiore, while interval 1 refers to the “Sabbie di Donoratico”, present throughout the Terrace of Leghorn. On the top of the drilling was identified a soil rich in coal. In the drilling analysed in this work, was ob- served only one level of "Panchina" just above the clay sediments of the Lower Pleistocene. The analysis of malacofauna present in the "Panchina" confirms data already known for an advanced part of the Tyrrhenian cycle. Conversely, no tropical molluscs, typical of the coasts of N W - Centre Africa, and characteristic of the Tyrrhenian baseline (MIS 5e), have been found. Since their discovery was reported by Malatesta (1 942) at a depth of about 6 meters (about 12 meters above sea level), in a well near the present hospital and less than one km away from “via Manasse”, this result raises some questions. If for the section of “via Gramsci”, adjacent to the hospital we could hypo- thesize the failure in finding the African species due to the shallow depth of the drilling, little more than three meters, the same cannot be said for the drilling of ’’via Manasse”, up to 20 meters above the ground. At the depth of 6 meters from ground level “via M anasse” sediments and malacofauna are attributable to the Lower Pleistocene, sample MAN3, while in the hospital area both sediments and malacofauna are Tyrrhenian (Malatesta, 1 942). The scantiness of recovered materials due to the nature itself of the sampling carried out, i.e. only a single drilling, could be the cause of the failure in finding or recognizing the Tyrrhenian level M IS 5e. Nevertheless, it is also possible that this level is not always present in the subsoil of Leghorn. On the other hand, the lack of the second cal- carenitic level, probably eroded and replaced by sediments of the river-type (Conglomerates of Rio M aggiore), currently occurring above the fossil level, 26 Andrea Guerrini etalii attests the possibility that important variations in the stratigraphy of the terrace Leghorn have occurred. In conclusion, it is not easy to find in the subsoil of Leghorn the initial part of the transgressive Tyrrhenian cycle and, consequently, to establish its relationship with the underlying lithological units. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank Mr. Enrico Ulivi (Lastra a Signa, Flo- rence, Italy) for the making photographs of molluscs and Dr. Paolo Russo (Venice, Italy) for confirmation of the determination of FliSiliUS pulchellus. REFERENCES Antonioli F., Silenzi S., Vittori E. & Villani C ., 1 999. Sea Level changes and tectonic mobility. Precise measurements in three coastlines of Italy considered stable during the last 125 ky. 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La tanatocenosi di un fondo S. G. C. F. Bollettino Malacologico, 17 : 1-26. D all' A ntonia B ., C iam palin i A ., M ichelucci L ., Zanchetta G. , Bossio A. & Bonadonna F.P., 2 0 04. New insights on the Quaternary stratigraphy of the Livorno area as deduced by borehole investigations. Bollettino della Societa Paleontologica Italiana, 43: 14 1-157. Faranda C. & Gliozzi E., 2008. The ostracod fauna of the Plio-Pleistocene Monte Mario succession (Roma Italy). Bollettino della Societa Paleontologica Italiana, 47: 2 1 5-267. Federici P. R ., & Mazzanti R., 1995. Note sulle pianure costiere della Toscana. Memorie della Societa Geo- grafica Italiana, 53: 1 65-270. Guernet C., 2005. Ostracodes et stratigraphie du Neogene et du Quaternaire mediterra-neens. Revue de Micro- paleontologie, Paris, 48: 83-121. Lazzarotto A., M azzanti R. & Nencini C., 1990. Geologia e morfologia dei Comuni di Livorno e Collesalvetti. Quaderni del Museo di Storia Naturale di Livorno, 11: 1-85. Malatesta A., 1942. 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Bollettino della Societa Paleontologica Italiana, 43: 347-359. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 27-40 Stream’s water quality and description of some aquatic species of Coleoptera and Hemiptera (Insecta) in Littoral Region of Cameroon SimeonTchakonte 1 *, Gideon A. Ajeagah 1 , Nectaire Lie NyamsiTchatcho 1,3 , Adama Idrissa Camara 2 , Dramane Diomande 2 & Pierre Ngassam 1 'Laboratory of Hydrobiology and Environment, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde I, P.O. BOX 812 Yaounde, Cameroon. 2 Laboratory of Environment and Aquatic Biology, Nangui Abrogoua University, 02 P.O. BOX 801 Abidjan 02, Ivory Coast. 'Department of Aquatic Ecosystems Management, Institute of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences at Yabassi, University of Douala, P.O. Box 7236 Douala, Cameroon. * Corresponding author, e-mail: tchakontesimeoon@yahoo.fr ABSTRACT Aquatic insects are the dominant taxon group in most freshwater ecosystems and are particu- larly suitable for large scale and comparative studies of freshwater community responses to human-induced perturbations. Understanding these responses is crucial for establishing con- servation goals. In this study, we used three families of aquatic insects (Coleoptera Gyrinidae, Hemiptera Gerridae and Veliidae) as surrogates to measure the aquatic health of urban streams in the city of Douala, and we described eight characteristic species. Aquatic insects were sampled monthly over a 13-month period in two forested sites and ten urbanized sites. Meanwhile, measurements of the environmental variables were taken. Overall, 20 species were identified; the family Gerridae was the most diversified with 1 1 species, followed by Veliidae (5 species), and Gyrinidae (4 species). All these species were present only at the two forested sites; no species was found in the urbanized area all over the study period. Morpho- logical description of the eight best indicator species ( Orectogyrus specularis Aube, 1838, Orectogyrus sp.l, Orectogyrus sp. 2, Eurymetra manengolensis Hoberlandt, 1952, Eurymetra sp. 1, Eurymetra sp. 2, Rhagovelia reitteri Reuter, 1884 and Rhagovelia sp.) revealed not described characteristic features and potentially new species. This testified that in Cameroon, biodiversity of aquatic insects is yet entirely to be investigated, and that there is an urgent need in their taxonomic revision. Physicochemical analyses revealed the very poor health status of urban streams with highly polluted water, while suburban streams have unpolluted water. The results of redundancy analysis revealed that the presence of Gyrinidae, Gerridae and Veliidae species is undoubtedly favored by the high rate of dissolved oxygen, important canopy cov- erage and very low organic matter input. It is thus clear that polluted status of urban streams due to human activities is the primary cause of the extinction of aquatic insect species. KEY WORDS Aquatic Coleoptera and Hemiptera; morphological features; sensitive species; water pollution. Received 31.01.2015; accepted 28.02.2015; printed 30.03.2015 INTRODUCTION Climate change, loss of biodiversity and the growth of an increasingly urban world population are main challenges of this century (Muller et al., 2010). In developing countries, urban population and anarchic urban land use have dramatically in- creased over the past few decades. Such population 28 Simeon Tchakonte etalii growth and urban expansion are placing greater stresses on the natural environment (Cohen, 2003), leading to a strong variability on the physical and chemical features of lotic ecosystems by clearing riparian vegetation and opening canopy, increasing inputs of sediments, nutrients, organic matter and pollutants (i.e., heavy metals), altering flows and reducing habitat heterogeneity (Xu et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2013). Such modifications result into drastic changes in the biological component and the ecological functioning of urban streams, with a deterioration of water quality and loss of sensitive aquatic biota (Tchakonte et al., 2014). There is therefore a growing need to better understand and predict how biotic communities respond to these disturbances. As an important functional group in stream eco- systems that sustains the stability and complexity of aquatic communities, insects have frequently been used to indicate changes in the composition of stream communities that respond to anthropogenic disturbances since they are sensitive indicators of long-term environmental changes in water and habitat quality (Rosenberg & Resh, 1993; Song et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2013). Within the insects, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera are well known as good bioindicators in stream ecosystems (Rosenberg & Resh, 1993; Foto Menbohan et al., 2013; Nyamsi Tchatcho et al., 2014), whereas the use of aquatic Coleoptera and Hemiptera in bio- monitoring studies is rare. Despite their limited use in stream biomonitoring, some aquatic Coleoptera and Hemiptera taxa have been shown as being sensitive to increase in sediment and organic pollu- tion (e.g., Hauer & Resh, 1996; Zettel & Tran, 2004). Furthermore, most Hemipteran’s species are endemic to particular islands or continental regions and often have extremely limited distributions, issuing them a bioindicator identity. In the city of Douala which is the most densely populated and industrialized area of Cameroon, urbanization is anarchical with precarious sanitation systems in shanty quarters; household disposals, municipal and industrial wastewater and solid wastes are discharged directly in the environment without preliminary or adequate treatment (Tening et al., 2013; Tchakonte et al., 2014).To our knowledge, no study has so far dealt with diversity, morphological description and ecological requirement conditions of aquatic insect of the families Gyrinidae, Gerridae and Veliidae in Douala rivers. Indeed, these Cole- optera and Hemiptera accomplish their entire live cycle in aquatic milieu (except pupal stage of Gyrin- idae); they are therefore in permanent contact with the aquatic environment and might reflect even the most subtle changes occurring in the medium. This study aimed thus to inventory and to describe characteristic species of Gyrinidae, Gerridae and Veliidae in urban and forest streams of Douala city, in order to provide further information on the systematic of these families and to offer hypotheses as to how the species are distributed. MATERIAL AND METHODS Study area and sampling stations Douala city is located at the bottom of the Gulf of Guinea, along the estuary of the Wouri River. This city extends between 3°58’- 4°07’ of latitude North and between 9°34’ - 9°49’ of longitude East, and presents a flat topography with altitudes varying between 1.6 and 39 m (Olivry, 1986). The climate of this region was classified by Suchel (1972) as a wet tropical type, characterized by a short dry season (December to February) and a long rainy season (March to November). Rainfalls are abundant and regular with the annual average values varying between 2596 mm and 5328 mm. The air temperature is relatively high with a monthly average of approximately 28 °C (Suchel, 1972). Samplings were carried out monthly, from Septem- ber 2012 to September 2013 in 12 stations located in the three larger contiguous watersheds (Nsape, Tongo’a-Bassa and Mgoua) situated at the left bank of the Wouri River (Fig. 1). The watershed of Nsape is located in a peri- urban area situated at about 30 km away from the urban centre. This watershed is particularly covered by vegetation of a secondary dense forest type, composed of high trees, shrubs and tall grasses (un- dergrowth) which alternate with some cleared spaces used for traditional farming purposes. This forested area is uninhabited and sheltered of any urban/ industrial activity. Two stations identified as N ] and N 2 were selected in this forested area. Inversely, Tongo'a-Bassa and Mgoua basins are located in industrialized areas and are highly polluted by human activities. Five sampling stations (Tj, T 2 , Stream’s water quality and description of aquatic species of Coleoptera and Hemiptera in Littoral Region of Cameroon 29 T 3 , ATj, and AT 2 ) were selected in the Tongo' a-Bassa catchment. The stations Tj and T 2 are localized respectively at 350 m upstream and 200 m downstream from the outlet of the effluent of an industry of chocolate factory and confectionery. Stations AT ^ and AT 2 are located respectively at 100 m and 3.5 km downstream from the outlet of effluents coming from a brewery industry, a textile industry and an industry of manufacture of glasses. While station T 3 is situated at 500 m downstream from the junction of the two preceding arms. The five other stations (M 1? M 2 , AM 1? AM 2 and AM 3 ) were chosen in Mgoua river basin. The stations M 3 and M 2 are respectively localized at 350 m upstream and 250 m downstream from the outlet of effluents coming from the great Industrial Centre of Bassa. Stations AM| and AM 2 are located respectively at 300 m upstream and 150 m downstream from the outlet of the effluent of a soap and cosmetic factory, while station AM 3 is situated at approximately 2.4 km downstream of this effluent. Measurement of environmental variables At each sampling station, 15 environmental variables were taken into account. Three physical parameters were determined to characterize the habitat. The mean water depth (WD) was measured 30 Simeon Tchakonte etalii on transects with equal distance interval across the river sections (Song et al., 2009). Current velocity (CV) was measured by timing the front of a neutral non-pollutant dye (blue of methylene) over a calibrated distance. At each sampling station, canopy coverage (%) was estimated visually (Rios & Bailey, 2006). The measurements of physicochemical paramet- ers of water at each sampling station were done fol- lowing APHA (2009) and Rodier et al. (2009) standard methods. Water temperature, pH, and dis- solved oxygen (DO) were measured in situ using an alcohol thermometer, a HACH HQ lid pH-meter, and a HACH HQ14d oxymeter, respectively. Like- wise, electrical conductivity (EC) was measured in situ using a HACH HQ 14d conductimeter. Suspen- ded solids (SS), turbidity, ammonium (NH 4 + ), ni- trites (N0 2 ‘), nitrates (NO3'), and phosphates (PO4 3 ) were measured in the laboratory using HACH DR/2800 spectrophotometer. The Bioche- mical Oxygen Demand (BOD5) was measured using a Liebherr BOD analyzer. In order to assess the organic pollution level at each sampling station, the Organic Pollution Index (OPI) was calculated according to the protocol described by Leclercq (2001). OPI is based on three ions concentrations resulting from organic pollution (NH 4 + , N0 2 ", and P0 4 3 ") and one synthetic parameter (BOD5). Sampling, identification and representatio- nof aquatic insect species Insect samples were collected at each station using a long-handled kick net (30 cm x 30 cm side, 400 pm mesh-size, 50 cm depth). For each station, samplings were done in a 100 m stretch following protocol described by Stark et al. (2001). At each station, 20 drags of the kick net were done in dif- ferent micro-habitat, each corresponding to a surface of 0.15 m 2 (30 cm x 50 cm). The materials that were collected in the sampling net were rinsed through a 400 pm sieve bucket and all macroinver- tebrate individuals were sorted and preserved in plastics sampling bottles with 70% ethanol. In the laboratory, all aquatic insects belonging to the families Gyrinidae (Coleoptera), Gerridae and Veliidae (Hemiptera) were identified under a stereomicroscope using appropriate taxonomic keys (Dejoux et al., 1981; Durand & Leveque, 1981; De Moor et al., 2003; Stals & De Moor, 2007; Tachet et al., 2010), and counted. The specimens intended for representation were prior immersed in 10% sodium hydroxide overnight, so as to soften their chitin and lighten their body. The drawings of general morphology of characteristic species were carried out under a stereomicroscope equipped with a drawing tube. Details of key appendages were drawn using an optical microscope 100x magnification, equipped with a drawing tube. Data analyses Insect richness, abundances and occurrence frequencies were used to classify species according to Dajoz (2000). In order to study the relationships between environmental variables and the distribu- tion and dynamic of the eight characteristic insect species, Canonical Redundancy Analysis (RDA) was performed based on the data matrix of species abundances and physicochemical parameters. RDA is a constrained ordination method, efficient in directly revealing relationships between the spatial structure of communities and environmental factors that might be responsible for that structure (Le- gendre et al., 2011). Monte Carlo permutations (499 permutations) were done so as to identify a subset of measured environmental variables, which exer- ted significant and independent influences on insect species distribution at p < 0.05. CANOCO for Windows 4.5 software (Ter Braak & Smilauer, 2002) was used for this analysis. RESULTS Environmental variables The mean values and standard deviation (SD) of environmental variables measured at each sampling station are shown in Table 1 . The lower mean val- ues of water temperature were observed at forested sites (25.9° C), whereas at urbanized sites, higher values were recorded, especially downstream from the outlet of industrial effluents. The mean values of pH varied between 6.10 (NQ and 8.16 (AM 2 ). The percentage of dissolved oxygen was overall higher at suburban sites (>75%) compared to urban sites, where waters were closed to the hypoxic con- dition, with mean values oscillating between 2.95% (T3) and 21.3% (AMQ. Mean values of electrical conductivity ranged between 13.1 pS/cm (N 2 ) and Stream’s water quality and description of aquatic species of Coleoptera and Hemiptera in Littoral Region of Cameroon 3 1 1559 pS/cm (ATj). Turbidity and suspended solids were globally veiy low at forested sites, with mean values ranging froml4 to 26 NTU and from 4.2 to 7.7 mg/L, respectively. Where as in urban zone, mean values of these parameters varied between 94.2 NTU ( AM { ) and 259.7 NTU (ATj), and between 47.9 mg/L (AMj) and 163.5 mg/L (AT|), respectively for turbidity and suspended solids. The lowest mean values of nitrates (0.11 mg/L), nitrites (0.006 mg/L), ammonium (0.09 mg/L) and phos- phates (0.08 mg/L) were recorded at suburban sta- tion N j , whereas the highest were registered at the urban stations ATj (6.98 mg/L), AM 2 (0.26 mg/L), M | (5.19 mg/L) and AT | (2.2 mg/L), respectively. Concerning BOD, the lowest value (13.08 mg/L) was observed in station N | , while the highest values (218.1 mg/L) were obtained at station AT ] . Mean values of water’s depth and current velocity fluc- tuated between 0.22 m (M 3 ) and 0.75 m (AM 3 ), and between 0.22 m/s (AM 3 ) and 0.89 m/s (ATj), respectively. At the level of all the sampling stations situated in urban area, canopy was absent; mean- while it was estimated to 69% and 73% respectively at the level of stations N 1 and N2 located in forested sites. The organic pollution index (OPI) revealed that organic pollution ranged from low to null at the forested sites; whereas in urban streams, organic pollution level was veiy high. Composition and distribution of species Overall, 20 species were identified for the three studied aquatic insect families (Table 2). The family Gerridae (Hemiptera) was the most diversified with 1 1 species, followed by the family Veliidae (Hemi- ptera) with 5 species, and the family Gyrinidae (Co- leoptera) which accounted 4 species. All these species were caught only at the two forested sites (N 1 and N2); no species were found at any of the ten sampling stations located in urban streams, all over the study period. Among the taxa identified 3 species of Gyrinidae ( Orectogyrus specularis Aube, 1838, Orectogyrus sp. 1 and Orectogyrus sp.2), 5 Variables Forested sites Urbanized sites N, N, T, 7; T AT, AT, M, M : AM, AM, AMj Temperature (°C) Mean 25.9 25,9 29.4 29.2 30.1 32.7 30.54 29.1 29.54 28.8 29.23 29.4 SD 0.79 0.98 1.7 1.61 2.36 2.24 2.12 2.63 2.23 1.78 1.73 2.28 pH(UC) Mean 6.10 6.19 7.01 6.98 6.72 7.93 6.71 6.92 6.79 6.75 8.16 7.01 SD 0.71 0,93 0,52 0.53 0.73 1.11 0.84 0.63 0.72 0.66 0.91 0.86 DO (%) Mean 75.4 80.3 14.6 17.7 2,95 4.65 5.5 6.32 5.7 21.3 10,51 5.64 SD 83 10.9 10.! 11.8 1.66 2.47 3 8.73 5.89 12 7.86 6.62 EC (pS/cm) Mean 132 13,1 397.9 401.1 4753 1559 624.2 403.1 677.5 291.3 478.9 443.7 SD 6.82 3.09 115 117 152 1159 277.5 148 636.6 79 417.1 170 Turbidity (NTU) Mean 14 26 102.2 116.3 131.6 259,7 173 125.1 119.9 94.2 122.6 106.9 SD 10,5 17.2 108 71 66 187.4 100.6 40 69.6 18.7 86.59 60 SS (mg/L) Mean 4.2 7,7 62.9 54.9 100.5 163.5 99.2 77 71.62 47,9 72.69 86,9 SD 3.8 4.09 101 85.5 84 112.3 66.1 39.7 27.3 25.9 41.72 72.7 NO/ (mg/L) Mean 0.11 0,2 2.79 1.53 3.7 6.98 4.43 2.24 3.22 1.91 3.24 3.1 SD 0.16 0,17 5.26 0.58 2.92 4,9 332 2.14 1.49 1.18 3.99 1.3 NO/ (mg/L) Mean 0,006 0.008 0.23 0.21 0.13 0.21 0.041 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.26 0.2 SD 0.0 0,0 0.46 0.39 0.26 0.31 0.025 0.06 0.1 0,15 0.65 0.29 NHf (mg/L) Mean 0.09 0.1 4.5 4.56 4.4 4.04 3.12 5.19 4.15 3.1 Z49 3.29 PO/‘(mgfl.) SD 0.07 0.08 2.53 2.73 2.3! 2.93 1.04 3.16 0.32 2.39 1.86 1.52 Mean 0.08 0.14 1.21 1.06 1.3 2.2 1.4 1.53 1.17 0.9 0.88 1.39 SD 0.13 0.2 0.41 0.38 0.58 1.73 0.69 0.91 0.73 0.43 0.37 0.45 BOD 5 (mg/L) Mean 13.08 16.2 96.9 156.2 158.5 218.1 176.2 89.6 105 94.6 121.15 139.6 SD 6,9 10,2 50 53 67 63,23 46.24 31.3 27.39 29 22 33 WD (m) Mean 0.31 0,66 0.37 0.48 0.65 0.26 0,62 0.22 0.43 0.35 0.26 0.75 SD 0.07 005 0.07 0.06 0.04 0.04 0.05 0.03 0.05 0.06 0,05 0.03 CV (m/s) Mean 0,64 0,48 0.75 0,78 0.57 0.89 0.71 0.38 0.37 0.46 0.45 0.22 SD 0.04 0.05 0.04 0,05 0.04 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.05 0.05 0,04 0,05 OPI Values Mean 4.63 4.14 1.67 1.73 1.69 1.48 1.81 1.81 1.87 1.98 1.94 1.77 SD 0.53 0.55 0.30 0.26 0.31 0.37 0.25 0.37 0.32 0.31 0.34 0.40 Pollution level Null Low Very high Table 1. Mean values and standard deviation (SD) of environmental variables measured at each sampling station during the study period. 32 Simeon Tchakonte etalii species of Gerridae ( Eurymetra manengolensis Hoberlandt, 1952, Eurymetra sp. 1, Eurymetra sp. 2, Limnogonus chopardi Poisson, 1941 and Limno- gonus sp.) and 3 species of Veliidae (Microvelia sp., Rhagovelia reitteri Reuter, 1884 and Rhagovelia sp.) were present simultaneously at the two sub- urban stations and are considered as characteristic species. Each of the other species was caught either at the station N| or at the station N 2 , exclusively. Morphological description of some charac- teristic species Description of species of the genus Orecto- GYRUS REGIMBART, 1884 (COLEOPTERA GYRINIDAE). The aquatic insects of the family Gyrinidae are all holometabolous. Adult Gyrinidae (whirligig beetles) are highly adapted to the aquatic environment, being the only beetles that normally use the water surface film for support. They are, however, equally at home under the water. Both adults and larvae of all Gyrinidae are strictly aquatic. The adult gyrinids are true water beetles with medium-sized to moder- ately large, ranging from 4-17 mm in length. The body shape of the adults is ovate or elongate-ovate, convex, with a sharp lateral edge around the whole body. This edge separates the hydrofuge dorsal surface of the insect from its wettable ventral surface. The lateral edge divides the compound eyes into dorsal and ventral halves (Fig. 7), with the dorsal part looking up out of the water, whereas the ventral part looks down into the water. The antennae of adult gyrinids are short, stout and highly sens- itive (Fig. 5). The front legs of gyrinids are long and adapted for seizing prey. The middle and hind legs are adapted for swimming: they are shot and dorsov- entrally compressed, with fringes of swimming hairs (Fig. 6). The adult specimens of the genus Orectogyrus are recognized with their elongate-ovate-convex body and their last abdominal segment elongate extending beyond the elytra edge.The upper side of ORDERS/FAMILIES SPECIES Nl n 2 All urban stations COLEOPTERA GYRINIDAE Aulonogyrus sp. 3* - - Orectogyrus specular is Aube, 1838 9 * 6 * - Orectogyrus sp. 1 8 * 15* - Orectogyrus sp.2 27 ** 19* - HEMIPTERA GERRIDAE Aquarius distanti Horvath 1 899 - 2 * - Eurymetra manengolensis Hoberlandt, 1952 - Eurymetra sp. 1 18* 13* - Eurymetra sp.2 4 * 6 * - Gerris swakopensis Stal, 1858 - 3* - Gerris sp. - 2 * - Hynesionella aethiopica Poisson, 1949 - 2 * - Limnogonus chopardi Poisson, 1941 9** 7* - Limnogonus sp. 2 * g** - Neo gerris sp. 3* - - Tenagogonus sp. - 5* - HEMIPTERA VELIIDAE Carayonella hutchinsoni Poisson, 1948 1 * - - Microvelia gracillima Reuter, 1882 2 * - - Microvelia sp. 12 ** 6 * - Rhagovelia reitteri Reuter, 1884 162*** 90** - Rhagovelia sp. 31** 42** - Table 2. Distribution, abundances and occurrence frequencies of insect species of the families Gyrinidae, Gerridae and Ve- liidae in different sampling stations; * = rare, ** = accessory, *** = frequent, (-) = absent. For undefined species, the de- scriptor author’s name of the genus is given. Stream’s water quality and description of aquatic species of Coleoptera and Hemiptera in Littoral Region of Cameroon 33 elytra is glabrous or (partly) pubescent, black in color, with distinct metallic shiny portions used as systematic character. The specimens that we recor- ded have a pale yellow lateral border on the pro- notum and elytra. The hindmost two abdominal sternites are more-or-less laterally compressed and movable, with a ventral median row of long hairs used as a rudder for swimming. Three species, Orecto gyrus specularis Aube, 1838, Orectogyrus sp. 1 and Orectogyrus sp. 2 were identified. In O. sp. 1 (Fig. 4), only the last abdominal segment is extended beyond the elytra, whereas in O. specu- laris and O. sp. 2 (Figs. 2, 3), it is the two last ones. Moreover, the ornateness of elytra permitted to clearly separate these three species. The specimens of O. specularis measure 9.4 ±0.1 mm in length and 4. 1 6 ± 0.02 mm in width; the inter-ocular space measures 1.6 ± 0.001 mm and the pronotum is 1.2 ± 0.02 mm in length. For O. sp.l, the body is 7.08 ±0.11 mm in length and 3.6 ± 0.01 mm in width; the inter-ocular space measures 1.12 ± 0.002 mm and the pronotum is 0.92 ± 0.08 mm in length. Concerning O. sp. 2, the specimens caught measure 9.54 ± 0.26 mm in length and 4.2 ± 0.02 mm in width; the mean length of the inter-ocular space is 1.4 ± 0.01 mm and the pronotum is 1.2 ± 0.04 mm in length. The median silky swimming hairs of the last abdominal stemite are longer in O. specularis and O. sp. 2 (800 - 850 pm) as compared to O. sp. 1 (520-680 pm). Description of species of the genus Rhagove- lia Mayr, 1865 (Hemiptera Veliidae). The Veliidae are hemimetabolous insects gliding or treading on the surface of the water. They are typically charac- terized by their jointed mouthparts, modified to form a rostrum or “beak”, which is adapted for piercing and sucking. The head is short, less than two times longer than wide, bent downward, and triangular. It has a distinct longitudinal sulcus mid-dorsally, a jointed rostrum with 3 segments, a pair of four-segmented antennae longer than the head, and no ocellus. The legs are nearly equidistant and the hind-coxae are distinctly moved apart from each other, with mid- femora not exceeding or very slightly the end of the abdomen. The tarsal claws are subapical. The adult specimens of the genus Rhagovelia Mayr, 1865 are distinguishable with their body surface matt and blackish or brownish; all tarsi three-segmented with the basal segment very short; mid-tarsi deeply cleft with leaf like claws and hairy swimming fans arising from the base of the cleft (Fig. 10). The mesoscutellum is not exposed, covered by posteriorly-extended pronotal lobe. Two species, Rhagovelia reitteri Reuter, 1884 and Rhagovelia sp. were identified for this study. Adult specimens of R. reitteri collected are mac- ropterous and their fore-wings (hemelytra) are not divided into corium and membrane (Fig. 8). How- ever, these hemelytra can detach during sampling or identification processes. The specimens of R. reitteri measure 4.15 ± 0.15 mm in length and 1 .05 ± 0.002 mm in width; the inter-ocular space measures 0.24 ± 0.001 mm and the pronotum is 0.82 ± 0.02 mm in length. Inversely, the individuals of Rhagovelia sp. are apterous, with stout hind femora bearing small distinct spines on the inner margins (Fig. 9). Their body is 4.12 ± 0.2 mm in length and 1 .2 ± 0.01 mm in width; the inter-ocular space measures 0.23 ± 0.01 mm. The lengths of the pro-, meso- and metanotum are 0.81 ± 0.03 mm, 0.24 ± 0.001 mm and 0.24 ± 0.004 mm, respect- ively. The body is mainly black; pronotum anteri- orly completely yellow, posteriorly variably colored, usually black, but in some specimens with yellowish hind margin, and in smallest specimens uniformly light reddish brown; connexiva (most lateral areas of sternites and laterotergites) usually brown, in smaller specimens yellow; anteclypeus, rostrum, and proepisterna mainly yellowish; antenna and legs mainly black, basal half of first antemiomere, all coxae and trochanters, basal half of all femora, inner margins of hind femora yellow. Description of species of the genus Euryme- tra Esaki, 1926 (Hemiptera Gerridae). The Gerridae are hemimetabolous insects gliding or treading on the surface of the water. They are typ- ically characterized by their jointed mouth parts, modified to form a rostrum or 'beak', which is adapted for piercing and sucking. The head is short, less than two times longer than wide, bent down- ward, and triangular; it has no longitudinal sulcus, a jointed rostrum with 4 segments, a pair of four- segmented antennae longer than the head, and no ocellus. The mid and hind-legs are distant from fore-legs and longer than these formers, and their femora are clearly extended beyond the abdomen. The hind-coxae are distinctly moved apart from each other. 34 Simeon Tchakonte etalii 1 mm 0.2mm Femur Elongte, grasping from legs Compound eyes Clypeus Pronotum Scute Hum Glabrous & shining areas Primrose yellow Lateral borders Elytral sutures Short, flattened swimming hind legs Sharp lateral edges Last abdominal segments elongate l mm Trochanter Enlarged pedicel Scape Tarsus Tibia Long, silky swimming hairs 0.5 mm Divided compound eye 0.6mm Lateral edge of the body Figures 2-7. Orectogyrus adult. Morphology in dorsal view of O. specularis (Fig. 2), O. sp. 2 (Fig. 3) and O. sp. 1 (Fig. 4); Fig. 5, antenna; Fig. 6, hind leg; Fig. 7, lateral view of the head showing divided compound eye. Stream’s water quality and description of aquatic species of Coleoptera and Hemiptera in Littoral Region of Cameroon 35 The adult specimens of the genus Eurymetra Esaki, 1926 are apterous and distinguishable with their short, stout and rounded abdomen. Their body is shiny and rounded, and generally does not exceed 4.5 mm in length. The meso and metanotum are well distinct and separated by a lateral suture, whereas the metasternum is reduced to a small triangular plaque. All tarsi are two-segmented and the tarsal claws are modified (straight or 'S'-shaped) in some specimens. At the level of fore-tarsi, segment 1 is shorter than segment 2 (Fig. 15), whe- reas in the mid- and hind-tarsi, segment 1 is 3 to 4 times longer than segment 2 (Fig. 14). Three species, Eurymetra manengolensis Hoberlandt, 1952, Eury- metra sp. 1 and Emymetra sp. 2 were identified for this study (Figs. 11-13). The specimens of E. manengolensis and E. sp.l measure 4.1 ±0.1 mm in length over 2.48 ± 0.04 mm in width, and 4.04 ± 0.12 mm in length over 2.76 ± 0.07 mm in width, respectively. For E. manengolensis , the lengths of the pro, meso- and metanotum are 0.23 ± 0.01 mm, 0.94 ± 0.006 mm and 0.24 ± 0.02 mm, respectively. Where as in E. sp. 1, the pro-, meso- and metanotum are 0.25 ± 0.02 mm, 0.94 ± 0.01 mm and 0.22 ± 0.04 mm in length, respectively. For these two species, 8 abdominal segments are visible in dorsal view; the edges of thoracic and abdominal tergites are black in color; a mid-dorsal longitudinal band is observed on the thoracic and the first two abdom- inal tergites. Abdominal pleura are well developed in E. manengolens as compared to E. sp. 1. Con- cerning E. sp. 2, the individuals caught measure 3.11 ± 0.41 mm in length and 2.17 ± 0.02 mm in width; 9 abdominal segments are visible in dorsal view. Their pro-, meso- and metanotum measure 0.22 ± 0.02 mm, 0.97 ± 0.04 mm and 0.23 ± 0.02 mm in length, respectively. Their body is pale yellow with median sulcus on thoracic tergites. fore-wing 0.6 mm Mid-tarsal segment 3 Mid-tarsal segment 2 Hairy swimming- fans Cleft 0.1 mm Antennae Hind-femora Fore-legs Longitudinal sulcus Compound eyes Pronotum Mesonotum Metanotum Mid-legs Abdomen Figures 8-10. Rhagovelia adult. Morphology in dorsal view of R. reitteri (Fig. 8), R. sp. (Fig. 9) and detail of mid-tarsal fan (Fig. 10). 36 Simeon Tchakonte etalii lateral suture 1.3 mm Fbia 0.53 mm Femora Trochanters Coxae Segment 1 Segment 2 Tibia 0.7 mm Antennae lore-legs Compound eyes Pronotum Mesonotum MctanoLum Abdomen Abdominal pleura Mid-legs Hind-legs Lateral suture .3mm Tarsus Claw Segment 2 Segment 1 Taisus Figures 11-15. Eurymetra adult. Morphology in dorsal view of E. manengolensis (Fig. 11), E. sp.l (Fig. 12) and£. sp.2 (Fig. 13); Fig. 14, mid-leg; Fig. 15, fore-leg. Stream’s water quality and description of aquatic species of Coleoptera and Hemiptera in Littoral Region of Cameroon 37 Relationships between environmental vari- ables and insect species The results of redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the relationships between the 8 characteristic aquatic insect species and their habitat conditions follow mainly the first two axes (F 1=94.9 %; F2=3.6 %) which accounted for 98.5 % of the total variance expressed (Fig. 16). Follow- ing the first axis (FI) in positive coordinates the presence and abundances of the 8 characteristic insect species {Orecto gyrus specularis, Orecto gyrus sp. 1, Orectogyrus sp. 2, Rhagovelia reitteri, Rhagovelia sp., Eurymetra manengolensis, Eury- metra sp. 1 and Eurymetra sp. 2) are positively and significantly influenced by water depth, high dissolved oxygen content, important canopy cover- age and higher values of OPI (i.e., very low organic matter input). Rhagovelia sp. seems to quite appre- ciate moderate water flow. Inversely, in negative coordinates, the presence of these sensitive aquatic insects is impeded by the polluted status of water with high values of temperature, pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity, suspended solids, am- monium, nitrites, nitrates, phosphates and BOD. DISCUSSION This study achieved in Douala watershed permitted to identify 20 species, all present only at the two forested sites (N 1 and N2); no species being found in urban streams. The absence of these Figure 16. Redundancy analysis biplot showing gathering of characteristic aquatic insect species in response to envir- onmental variables; NH4 = ammonium, N02 = nitrites, N03 = nitrates, and P04 = phosphates. See “Materials and methods” section for other abbreviations. Hemiptera (Gerridae Veliidae) and Coleoptera (Gyrinidae) families in Douala’s urban waterways is undoubtedly due to their polluted status caused by the uncontrolled discharge of domestic, muni- cipal and industrial wastes and sewages in the rivers. Indeed, the hypoxic condition of water, the very high values of water temperature, conductivity, tur- bidity, suspended solids, diverse ions (N 03 ',NH 4 + , P0 4 3 '), organic matter input and BOD were re- gistered at urban stations, and could have been re- sponsible for the extinction of these aquatic insects. These observations allowed us to assume that species of these families might be sensitive to water pollution and in-stream habitat degradation, since we hypothesized that these taxa would have histor- ically been present at these streams before urban- ization, as they do in suburban streams. Similarly, Foto Menbohan (2012) reported that species of these aquatic insect families were absent (or very rare) in the most of urban streams of the Mfoundi river basin in Yaounde (Cameroon). Our results are consistent with those of Compin & Cereghino (2003) and Song et al. (2009) who showed that a decrease in Coleoptera species richness in human- impacted streams is clearly related to changes in water quality and habitat suitability. Moreover, aquatic Coleoptera species, especially those belong- ing to Elmidae, Gyrinidae, and Haliplidae have also been recognized as good water quality indicators (Hilsenhoff, 1988; Bote et al., 2002; Sanchez- Fernandez et al., 2006). Hauer & Resh (1996) added that many species of these Coleoptera fam- ilies have been shown to be sensitive to increase in sediment and organic pollution. Concerning the aquatic Hemipteran’s families (Gerridae Veliidae), their use in stream biomonitoring programs is still worldwide limited. In this study, these aquatic bugs occurred only at forested sites and presented high diversity; we believe that these Hemiptera could be sensitive to water pollution and their use as bioindicators might enhance the accuracy of water quality assessments in urban impaired streams. Our results are in line with those of Zettel & Tran (2004) who found that in Vietnam, Rhagovelia polymorpha a congener species of R. reitteri and Rhagovelia sp. identified in Douala forested stream, also inhabit small stream in a forested area, with a moderate to slow water flow, in partial shade, bottom with rock or sand. Moreover, the canonical redundancy analysis 38 Simeon Tchakonte etalii (RDA) revealed that the presence and abundance of the most characteristic species of these aquatic bugs are positively and significantly influenced by high dissolved oxygen content, important canopy cover- age, low mineralization, very low organic matter input and current velocity. Concerning morphological features of the Gyrin- idae, this study revealed that Orectogyrus sp. 1 and O recto gyrus sp. 2 differ from the Afrotropical Orec- togyrus specularis Aube, 1838 and O. camerunensis Ochs, 1924 known to occur in Cameroon, particu- larly by the distinct metallic shiny omateness of the elytra. However, these species are to be compared to other Afrotropical allotype or paratype occurring elsewhere, to know whether we are face to new records or new species. As for the Veliidae, Rhagov- elia sp. described here differs drastically from R. reitteri, as it lacks wings. Additionally, Rhagovelia sp. has stout hind femora bearing short distinct spines on the inner margins. This former character makes Rhagovelia sp. to be closer to R. polymorpha describe by Zettel & Tran (2004), but in R. poly- morpha the body including legs is silky, with nume- rous black, semi-erect setae and with short, appressed yellow pubescence; legs with very long black setae. Moreover, R. polymorpha is smaller in size (body length 3. 2-3. 6 mm) as compared to our specimen (body length 4.12 ± 0.2 mm). The speci- mens of Eurymetra sp. 1 and Eurymetra sp.2 that we recorded in this study differ significantly from the typical E. manengolensis described by Hoberlandt (1952) in Cameroon Manengouba mount. Abdom- inal connexiva (pleura) are well developed in E. manengolensis as compared to E. sp. 1 . In addition, mid- and hind-coxae are larger in E. sp. 1 than in E. manengolensis. As for E. sp. 2, the specimen described here shows some similarities with the genus Eurymetropsis examined by Poisson (1965) in terms of morphology (especially size and color). However, in Eurymetropsis body is more flattened and often lustrous above, the lateral suture between the meso- and metanotum is not so keeled, all tarsal segments are also nearly equal in length, what distinguish it from our specimen. CONCLUSIONS This biological assessment permitted to identify 20 species, all present only at the forested sites; no species being found in urban streams. This study highlights that species richness and distribution of aquatic insect of the families Gyrinidae, Gerridae and Veliidae in Douala watershed are highly and negatively influence by polluted status of its urban streams due to anthropogenic activities which cause the extinction of the sensitive taxa.We thus believe that these aquatic Coleoptera and Hemiptera species are sensitive to water pollution and we suggest that their use as bioindicators might enhance the accur- acy of water quality assessments in Cameroon. Morphological description of our specimens revealed many undescribed taxa which are probably new records or new species. 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Relationships between macroinverteb- rate communities and land use types within different riparian widths in three headwater streams of Taizi River, China. Journal of Freshwater Ecology, 28: 307-328. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 41-52 High frequency components of the songs of two Cicadas (Hemiptera Cicadidae) from Sardinia (Italy) investigated by a low-cost USB microphone Cesare Brizio CIBRA - Centro 1 n te rd is c ip lin are di Bioacustica e Ricerche Ambientali d e 11’ U n i v e rs ita di Pavia, ViaTaramelli 24, Pavia, Italy: e.-mail: cebrizi@ tin.it ABSTRACT During August 2013, a low-cost ultrasonic USB microphone (Ultra mic 250 by Dodotronic), was field-tested for its first application ever in C icadom orphan bioacoustics studies. Two different species were recorded in the ultrasonic domain, with 250 kHz sampling frequency, one of them also with 96kHz audio recordings for comparison purposes. Ultra mic 250 proved suitable for field use, while the recording campaign provided the opportunity to con firm the presence in South-Western Sardinia of two species (Hemiptera Cicadidae), TibicJlCl COTSiCQ, Corsica B o u 1 a rd , 1 98 3, endemic to Sardinia and Corse, and the widespread Cicada Omi Linnaeus, 1758. To the best knowledge of the author, those reported are the first field record- ings of Cicadidae songs encompassing the ultrasonic domain up to 125 kHz and, in particular for C. Omi, display sound emissions at frequencies above those previously reported in literature. Even though conceived for the study of C hiropterans, self-contained, low-cost USB ultrasonic microphones proved usefulin insect bioacoustics investigations. KEY WORDS Cicadomorpha; ultrasound; bioacoustics. Received 31.01.2015; accepted 8.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 INTRODUCTION It has been known for several years that many insects species do hear ultrasounds, as for example in the papers by Conner (1 999), Barber & Conner (2007), Pollack (2007), Nakano et al. (2008), Sueur et al. (2008), Corcoran et al. (2009), Nakano et al. (2009), Takanashi et al. (2010) and Yager (2012), that successfully demonstrate that ultrasounds play a sig n ific an t ro le in many contexts, including prey- predator interaction and male-female communica- tion. Despite this widely acknowledged fact, spectral components well above human hearing are seldom included in field studies about insect songs, although investigations and description of animal sounds restrained to a specific frequency window (such as the human hearing range), may result in an incomplete or improper representation of their actual harmonic structure, leading to disputable conclusions. Generally speaking, with the notable exception of the study of Chiropterans, bioacoustics of the sub-aerial fauna, including insect sounds, has been fie Id - s tu d ie d mainly within the human hearing range (conventionally ranging from 20 Hz to 20 kHz - herein under, “audio range”), both for comparability with published materials, that we may deem as “historical anthropocentrism”, and for technical reasons including high cost and complex handling of the equipment for ultrasound recording, Cesare Brizio 42 that may require a specific technological stack including dedicated microphones, preamplifiers, power sources and recorders, that may prove unsuit- able for field use. A recent field expedition of the author to SW Sardinia, F lu m in im ag g io re ( C a rb o n ia - Ig le s ia s Province), provided the opportunity to field-test an in n o v ativ e , lo w cost USB microphone, Dodotronic Ultramic 250, and resulted in the ultrasound record- ings here presented to improve bioacoustic know- ledge on local C icadom orpha, as well as to document what appears, to the best knowledge of the author, as the first application of a new class of cheap, self-contained USB microphones with ultra- sonic threshold, epitomized by Ultramic 250, in the field of Hemiptera scientific bioacoustics. As a further note of interest, the cicada fauna of Sardinia is still not particularly well studied (J. Sueur, pers. comm.), and the recordings themselves may con- tribute to filling this gap. MATERIAL AND METHODS Brizio & Buzzetti (2014) reported about the suc- cessful usage of Ultramic 250 (Fig. 1) in the field of Orthopteran bioacoustic studies. To test whether Ultramic application to Cicadomorphan bioacous- tics would prove equally valid, in August 2013 two species of cicada from Sardinia were recorded. All the species reported were recorded within a 15 km range from F lu m in im a g g io re (Carbonia- Iglesias Province, Sardinia, Italy) (Fig. 2), although additional recordings of Ciccidci OVVli Linnaeus, 1 758 were subsequently taken in mainland Italy. All the audio material was obtained by field recording. Specimens were not captured nor recorded in constrained conditions. The capability ofUltramic 250 to deliver accur- ate recordings of Orthopteran songs was demon- strated in a separate study (Brizio & Buzzetti, 2014), also by collecting 96 kHz, 16 bit stereo recordings for comparison purposes. Available equipment for audio re co rd in g sin clu d ed a Zoom H 1 handheld digital Micro-SD recorder, coupled with a self-built stick stereo microphone using Panasonic W M - 64 capsules from an Edirol R-09 digital re- cord er. A c o u Stic recordings were taken in stereo, 16 bit, with 96 kHz sampling frequency, and thus capable of covering frequencies up to 48 kHz. Fig ure 1 . U ltra sound USB re cording set: A s u s Eee PC 1225B no te book personal computer, USB cable and Dodotronic U 1- trarnic 250. On the display, SeaWave software by the Uni- versity of Pavia’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioacoustics. Ultrasound monophonic recording at 250 kHz sampling frequency was performed via a Dodotronic Ultramic 250 microphone connected via USB cable to an Asus Eee PC 1 225B notebook personal com- puter, using SeaWave software by CIBRA-Univer- sity of Pavia’s “Centro Interdisciplinare di Bioacustica e R icerche A m bientali” (http ://w w w -3 . unipv.it/cibra/). Originally received as amplitude data (mV) by the recording apparatus, software- normalized spectral energy is expressed in decibels. Sound pressure is expressed in dB Full Scale, even though the dB symbol will be used. Oscillograms, spectrograms and frequency ana- lysis diagrams were generated by Adobe Audition 1.0 software. All the illustrations refer to Ultramic 250 monophonic recordings unless otherwise noted. In the recent paper by Brizio & Buzzetti (2014), some technical requirements of Ultramic 250 (such as the need to keep the USB cable length under 1 m) are addressed in more detail. The same paper proposes a specific operating protocol to ensure comparability between Ultramic recordings and audio range recordings available in literature, and supports the consistency of recordings obtained by Ultramic and by conventional microphones, while some cautions are needed due to the poorer fre- quency response of the ultrasonic-threshold micro- phone capsule if compared to ordinary microphones. In day time condition unaffected by Chiropteran or Orthopteran sounds, background noise floor level in the ultrasonic domain can be empirically determ- High frequency components of the songs of two Cicadas from Sardinia (Italy) investigated by a low-cost USB microphone 4 3 ined from frequency analyses as the average level of the spectral components not attributable to the sounds emitted by the recorded specimen, and can easily be measured by recording environmental sounds in quiet, no wind conditions, pointing the microphone towards the specimen during silence pauses. For the recordings here analysed, and for a “medium gain” setting of Ultramic 250 (see Brizio & Buzzetti, 2014), noise floor level in spectral frequency analyses can be placed at around -80 dB for the entire unaudible range. In the recording station of Capo Pecora, a 71 kHz, very narrow band continuous emission up to - 65 dB was recorded even in silent conditions and, being unrelated with the animal sounds here de- scribed, shall be reported but excluded from any kind of analysis and will be considered as part of the background noise, its plausible origin being tele- communication antennas in the vicinities that may directly originate the noise, or may induce a spurious harmonic component in the Ultramic circuitry. When using Ultramic in the field, it is particu- larly uneasy to find the ideal recording distance from a singing specimen (even more so when, as in the case of the recordings presented here, the specimen was out of sight) for reasons that include the incapacity ofthe human ear to take into account the volume of the inaudible components (as a consequence, volumes perceived as relatively low by the unaided ear may saturate the recording) and the variable intensity of inaudible components during song emission. As a consequence, even the smallest variation in the direction of the handheld microphone pointing towards an unseen specimen may result in more or less sharp volume changes, that compose with the natural pattern of volume variations. Consistent with the scope of this study, the author strived to attain the closest possible range and the most precise and constant microphone heading that could provide a high volume input, as near as possible to 0 dBfs, from which even the faintest high frequency harmonics, the most direc- tional and prone to attenuation even at relatively short distance - could be extracted and analyzed. For those reasons, although the oscillogram, generated in real time by SeaWave, was constantly monitored during the recording, small oscillations in volume can be observed. Adobe Audition software settings, such as resolution in bands, windowing function and O Capo P-acora, Horn a$l (Tibicina c, torstca, Cicada omO Soqai. road for Grugua, approx. 550m as I { Tibicin* c. Corsica) HKKffl ¥ MW* Figure 2. Recording stations in southwestern Sardinia, in the territory of the Communes ofArbus (Capo Pecora) and Flum inim aggiore (Grugua). 44 Cesare Brizio logarithmic energy plot range (in our case, respect- ively 16384, Welch Gaussian and 100 dB) used to generate time-frequency spectrograms were selec- ted as the best compromise for an accurate graph- ical rendition unaffected by over-representation of background noise. As a consequence of the settings chosen, the lowest significant energy level visual- ized in the time-frequency spectrograms generated by Adobe Audition is around -70 dB. In all the frequency analyses, a heavy line was superimposed to the illustration at the -70 dB level (Figs. 7, 11 14), marking the level above which spectral components emerge in the tim e - fre q u e n c y spectro- grams, and constituting a very conservative threshold for the safe attribution of those components, well above the background ultrasonic noise, to the singing anim al. To give more evidence even to the faintest significant spectral components, screenshots from time-frequency spectrograms (Figs. 8, 12, 13) were c o n tra s t- e n h a n c e d with Adobe Photoshop by a procedure involving in sequence: color removal, image inversion, brightness and contrast adjust- ment, shadows/highlights adjustment. Those inter- ventions did not affect the accuracy of time- frequency rendering, and allowed to highlight the 95 kHz “tail” (see below) to C. OYYli sound units. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Tibicina Corsica Corsica Bouiard, 1 9 8 3 Evidence collected. B io aco u stic al and photo- graphic. Figure 3. One of the recorded specimens of Tibicina Cor- sica Corsica, Genna Bogai, 1 6 . V 111 .2 0 1 3 . Examined Material. Italy, Sardinia, Genna Bogai (C arbonia-Iglesias Province), Latitude 39.37373, Longitude 8.49732, 549 m asl and Capo Pecora (Medio Campidano Province), Latitude 39.450908, Longitude 8.396298, 20 m asl. Distribution. This subspecies (Lig. 3) is distrib- uted in Sardinia and Corse (its type locality), while in mainland Europe (Southern Lrance) it's substi- tuted by T. Corsica farmairei Bouiard, 19 84. Remarks. Identification of this species, based also on visual recognition supported by photo- graphic evidence, posed no doubt. Ultrasound recordings took place near Capo Pecora, in the low shrubs (garrigue) with air temperatures in the range of 27 °C at around 1 6.00. 96 kHz recordings collected around 11 a.m., in comparable air temperature, along the road from the Genna Bogai pass to the locality called Grugua, allowed to verify the consistency between U ltram ic and ordinary recordings also in the case of C icadom orphan songs (Pigs. 4, 5). It's noteworthy that the latter samples include an acous- tic aggression behaviour as reported by Sueur & Aubin (2003) for the same species in Corse: the loud, competitive interaction between two male specimens, one of them "clicking" and the other "buzzing" in answer to the "clicks". The male calling song (oscillogram, Pigs. 4-6) is typical of T. COYSica. It’s currently believed that the two subspecies, T. COYSica COYSica and T. Corsica farmairei can not be separated based on their songs, that show no appreciable differences between the insular and the continental subspecies (J. Sueur pers. comm.). The whole frequency scope spectrum analysis (Pig. 7) allows to observe that, besides the cluster of audible frequency peaks centred around 10 kHz, the sound pattern can be quite clearly made out up to around half of the spectrogram , before hitting the background noise floor observed at around -78 dB. As explained above, the intensity peak at around 71 kHz is a peculiar noise component to be ignored. To give evidence of the song’s spectral structure, figure 7 includes five brackets, C 1/C5, correspon- ding each to a specific frequency band limited by a sharp decrease in sound pressure. Within each cluster (with the exception of C4) two main sub- clusters can be made out, with the lower frequency sub-cluster containing the highest sound pressure High frequency components of the songs of two Cicadas from Sardinia (Italy) investigated by a low-cost USB microphone 4 5 peaks. Components above the background noise and attributable to the singing specimen can be made out with sufficient clarity up to 56 kHz. Although the complexity and peculiarities of the Cicadomorpha sound apparatus do not allow for a song with clearly outstanding fundamental frequencies, as those observed in Orthopteran songs in Brizio & Buzzetti (2014), it can be easily recognized how the song acoustic signature, in frequency bands if not in clearly observable high- order harmonic frequencies, is observable well above the audible range. The time-frequency spectrogram (Fig. 8) gives further evidence of the presence of ultrasonic, struc- tured higher- order components replicating the main audible band centered around 11 kHz. Cicada orni Linnaeus, 1758 Evidence collected. B io aco u stic al evidence. Examined Material. Italy, Sardinia, Capo Pecora (Medio Campidano Province), Latitude 39.450908, Longitude 8.396298, 30 m asl, approx- imate nearest re cor ding distance 15 m . Italy, Em ilia Romagna, Poggio Renatico (Ferrara Province), Latitude 44. 761475, Longitude 11. 473074, 10 m asl, approximate nearest recording distance 20-25 m. D is T R ib u T 10 N .T h is species is distributed in all the Italian territory. Remarks. The ultrasound recordings took place near Capo Pecora, collecting the sound of speci- mens singing from the pine trees and from the highest shrubs. The following year, further recor- dings for comparison purposes were obtained in P o g g io R e n a tic o , in the Padan Plain of mainland Italy, from specimens singing from English Oaks, Laurel Oaks, Tree of Heaven AilanthuS ClltissilTlCl (Mill.) Swingle in an urban private park. The u nm istakeable calling song (oscillogram, Figs. 9, 1 0) of C. orni , based on repetitive echemes and well described in literature (for example by Sueur et al. (2008)) substantially differs from the mo re or less continuous, hissing and higher pitched emission by T. Corsica Corsica. The frequency analysis of the whole spectral range of a single echeme (Fig. 11), shows a song whose conventional subdivision in “bands”, here proposed as an aid in the observation of the song structure, isn't as evident as in the song of T. Corsica Corsica. Apart showing a less defined pattern, components above the background noise and attributable to the singing specimen can be clearly made out up to approximately 80 kHz. By rescaling the illustration above, one can find a sub- stantial agreement with Figure 2C in Sueur et al. (2008), with vibration spectra displaying an higher relative amplitude around 50 kHz and an increase towards 80 kHz. As reported by Sueur et al. (2008), in the high frequency domain the tympanal mem- brane (TM) of the female C. OWli is driven at its best re son an ce freq u ency at 50 kHz, a frequency domain represented by bands C4 and C 5 in Fig. 11 and Table 2. Two excerpts from C. orni songs U ltram ic recordings were compared with frequency analyses from Sueur et al. (2008), as illustrated in Fig. 12. Although obtained in different ambient conditions, the two examined excerpts show some consistent features w ith the s am pie of C. OfTli tympanal mem- brane vibration spectra obtained by Sueur et al. (2008) - two or three "humps" between 40 kHz and 50 kHz, consistent with some of the male specimens (faint blue lines) - sharp energy increase at around 50 kHz - three "humps" between 50 and 60 kHz, consistent with several of the female specimens (faint red line s) - gradual energy increase towards 80 kHz Frequencies above 80 kHz were not reported in Sueur et al. (2008) Time-Frequency spectrogram (Fig. 13), allows to observe the sy nchronicity in the emission of the high-frequency and the audible frequency compon- ents of the song. Components attributable to the singing specimen can be made out with sufficient clarity up to 80 kHz. As a novelty from an higher frequency range than that explored by Sueur et al. (2008), a faint “tail” (a frequency cluster roughly centred at 95 kHz) lasting around 300 msec was observed immediately following some of the better defined emissions (lasting around 100 msec) in the 80 kHz band. By further contrast enhancement of the time-frequency spectrogram, and by extending the spectral analysis to a lapse of time of around 300 msec, encompassing the “tail”, the presence of this further emission band can be observed in Fig. 14 and in Fig. 15, emerging 46 Cesare Brizio Figure 4. Song of Tibitina Corsica Corsica. Oscillogram, calling song -500 msec. Figure 5. Song of T. Corsica Corsica. Calling song -500 msec. This oscillogram from a 96 kFIz recording of another specimen, obtained by a non-ultrasonic microphone based on Panasonic WM-64 capsules, is very similar to Fig. 4, and shows an overall good oscillogram consistency between Ultramic and ordinary recordings. Figure 6. Song of T. Corsica Corsica. Oscillogram, calling song: Sound unit (echerne) -19 msec. Figure 7. Song of T. COfSicCl Corsica. Frequency spectrum analysis of the calling song. Black mann-Harris window type, FFT size 4096 bytes, 0-125kFlz. Volume window -12dB / - lOOdB. C1/C5: main “bands” or “freq ue nc y clu sters” ob serv ed . High frequency components of the songs of two Cicadas from Sardinia (Italy) investigated by a low-cost USB microphone 47 Figure 8. Song of Tibidna COVSica COVSiCd. Time-frequency spectrogram, 0-125kHz. The faint peak at 7 1 kHz is a spurious artifact from an unidentified external source. Figure 9. Song of Cicada OCni. Oscillogram, calling song -870 msec. Figure 10. Song of C. Omi. Oscillogram, calling song: Sound unit (echeme) -120 msec. Figure 11. Song of C. orm. Frequency spectrum analysis of a single soung unit, B lackm ann-H arris window type, FFT size 4096 bytes, 0-125kHz. Volume range below -20dB. Volume window -12dB / - 1 0 0 d B . C1/C9: main “bands” or “frequency clusters” observed. 48 Cesare Brizio Band Frequency Hz Volume dB Band Frequency Hz Volume dB Band Frequency Hz Volume dB C 1 8483 -23 .24 C 1 1 9470 -38.24 C 3 40460 -57.98 C 1 95 82 -20.58 C 1 2 0 3 2 0 -43.16 C 3 44250 -65.95 C 1 103 10 -1 9.98 C 2 22270 -44.30 C 4 463 80 -58.94 C 1 1 0980 -19.18 C 2 25690 -39.33 C 4 5 1080 -60.76 C 1 11960 -29.91 C 2 27280 -41 .60 C 5 54320 -64.69 C 1 1 2690 -33.94 C 2 3 3690 -50.17 C 5 565 1 0 -63.45 C 1 175 10 -37.67 C 3 39420 -61 .36 C 5 56430 -68.53 Table 1 . Song of Tibidna COVSiCd Corsica. Frequency spectrum analysis of the calling song, a selection of the nr ain observed frequency peaks above -70 dB and their sound pressures from the Ultranric 250 recording. Band Frequency Hz Volume dB Band Frequency Hz Volume dB Band Frequency Hz Volume dB C 1 2563 -36.98 C 1 1 9770 -50.64 C 5 54500 -63.30 C 1 4882 -1 9.53 C 2 25930 -55.13 C 5 61090 -66.48 C 1 73 85 -24.84 C 3 37900 -66.48 C 7 7 1280 -68.45 C 1 952 1 -33.42 C 4 48090 -63.05 C 8 787 30 -65.22 C 1 10490 -35.22 C 4 49010 -63.78 C 8 795 80 -64.11 Table 2. Song of Cicada Omi. Frequency spectrum analysis of the calling song, a selection of the nr ain observed frequency peaks above -70 dB and their sound pressures from the Ultranric 250 recording. Figure 12. Song of Cicada Orni. Two frequency analyses of 300 msec excerpts, centered at -72 dB, from C. Orni U ltranr ic recordings (solid black lines) are superimposed to average C. Omi male tympanal membrane vibration spectra (blue lines: male songs, red lines: female songs) measured in laboratory conditions. Illustration modified from Fig. 2 C from Sueur et al. (2008) - frequency range 20 kFIz- 110 kHz ca. above the limit of -70 dB and thus becoming observ- able in the time-frequency spectrogram. The 80 kHz components do not appear re gularly. Similarly, the 95 kHz band does not follow every echeme containing the 80 kHz band. Having not observed any of the following: - a total decoupling of the 80 kHz and 95 kHz com- ponents fro m th e c. Omi ec h e m e s , - 80 kHz and 95 kHz components in other Ultramic rec ord in g s , - 80 kHz and 95 kHz components in Ultramic recordings from the same stations during the pauses High frequency components of the songs of two Cicadas from Sardinia (Italy) investigated by a low-cost USB microphone 4 9 between C. OTYli song bouts, the author finds much more probable that those components are an integ- ral, although occasional, part of C. orni song units rather than software artefacts emerging at spectro- gram rendering level, or artefacts from Ultramic. The s y n c h ro n ic ity of the 80 kHz emission with some of the echemes, and the appearance of the highest frequency emissions here reported both in the frequency analysis mode and in time- frequency spectrograms corroborate this prelim- inary conclusion. In August 20 14, recordings of C. OTYli song, including the highest frequency components, were obtained in Poggio Renatico (mainland Italy, Padan Plain) for comparison purposes, in particular to investigate the high frequency “tail”. Specimens were recorded from a slightly higher distance (around 20 m) than the previous year in Sardinia. The recordings showed frequent occu rre nces of the same pattern of irregular high frequency “tails” observed in August 2013 in Sardinia, affecting a band of about 20 kHz from around 75 kHz to around 95 kHz. For comparison purposes, in the subsequent night and morning the acoustic/ultrasound back- ground was recorded in the same location (Poggio Renatico) of the recordings described above, with the same settings used during the day, avoiding the lapse of time from around 9 a.m. to around 9 p . m . when C. orni sings. Screenshots from Adobe Audition were c o n tra s t- e n h a n c e d with the same procedure as in figures 16 and 17 for comparison purposes. Background recordings taken at around midnight (Fig. 19) and morning recordings taken at around 8 a.m. (Fig. 20) were examined for any occurrence of the discontinuous yet well recognizable pattern observed in the 75 kHz-95 kHz band of C. Omi recordings. The author observed that: - none of the background ultrasound components above 70 kHz exceeded the -70 dB threshold - the 70 kHz-100 kHz band from the background recordings doesn't bear any resemblance to the same band in C. orni recordings. At the same time, C. orni recordings seem unaffected by the features appearing in the background recordings. Background night recordings displayed Chirop- teran echolocation calls and Orthopteran songs, with singing species including EumodicOgryllllS burdigalensis burdigalensis (Latreiiie, 1 804), Eupholidoptera schmidti (F ieb er, 1 8 6 1 ) , Oecanthus pellucens (Scopoli,1763). Ultrasounds from passing bats can be made out at around 30 kHz, while the regular pattern of Orthopteran songs can be made out under 30kHz. Frequencies around 68 kHz and 98 kHz display feeble regular pulses of different duration whose probably anthropogenic origin was not investigated . The ultrasound background above 70 kHz recor- ded in the morning resembled quite closely the night recording from the same location, with a persistence of the feeble pulses at around 68 kHz and 98 kHz. Their regularity in the 8 p.m.-8 a.m. period may hint at a n o n -b io lo g ic al source. Surely, a more detailed investigation beyond the scope of this paper may corroborate or disprove the author's findings. CONCLUSIONS The songs by two cicadas from Sardinia have been recorded in the field, by a low-cost USB microphone capable of generating very wide band (0 to 125 kHz) monophonic recordings, including both audible and inaudible frequencies. This device, Ultramic 250, by generating results consistent with other recording methods and by providing useful information about the high-frequency components above 20 kHz and up to 125 kHz, proved as useful for the investigation of Cicadom orphan songs, as it proved to be in the study of Orthopteran songs. The song by T. COTSiCQ. COTSiCQ. showed har- monic components (bands) up to 56 kHz, while the song by C. OTlli seems to exceed the lim it o f 8 0 kHz previously explored in literature, and may include frequencies in the 100 kHz range. Getting a full grasp of the intraspecific and interspecific significance of the ultrasound compon- ents is beyond the scope of this contribution: it is reasonable to suppose that the species whose song is here described may have a sound generating and receiving capability even in ranges above those previously reported in literature. Q uestions that can be addressed include a possible role of ultrasound components in the evaluation of song direction and distance by con specifics: a sound source may be considered omnidirectional when it emits wavelengths longer than its biggest linear dimen- sion, while directivity is inversely proportional to 50 Cesare Brizio Figure 13. Song of Cicada Omi. Enhanced contrast picture of a time-frequency spectrogram , 0-125kHz. White lines give evidence to the sy nchronicity of audible and inaudible spectral components, up to the frequency cluster centered at around 79 kHz and including a very faint 300 msec “tail” in the 95 kHz range. Figures 14-15. Enhanced contrast spectrogram and frequency spectrum analysis of 300 msec including the 95 kHz “tail” band. Black mann-Harr is window type, FFT size 4096 bytes, 0-125kHz. Volume range below -20 dB. Volume window -19 dB / - 1 0 2 d B . Figure 16. Song of C. OVVli , comparison specimen from Poggio Renatico, Padan Plain. Enhanced con trast picture of a time-frequency spectrogram, 0-125 kHz. Black lines border the frequency cluster centered at around 79 kHz and including a very faint 300 msec “tail” in the 95 kHz range. High frequency components of the songs of two Cicadas from Sardinia (Italy) investigated by a low-cost USB microphone 5 l Figures 17-18. Song of Cicada Omi from Padan Plain. Enhanced contrast spectrogram and frequency spec tr urn analysis of 1 800 msec including the 95 kHz “tail” band, B lackm ann-H arris window type, FFT size 4096 bytes, 0-125 kHz. Volume range below -20 dB. Volume window -15dB/-102 dB. Figure 19. Ultrasound background recording taken at 11:55 p.m. in the night following the recordings in Poggio Renatico, Padan Plain. Enhanced contrast picture of a tim e -fre q u en c y spectrogram, 0-125 kHz. See text for comments. Figure 20. Ultrasound background recording taken at 7:55 a.m. in the morning following the recordings in Poggio Renatico, Padan Plain. Enhanced contrast picture of a time-frequency spectrogram, 0-125 kHz. See text for comments. Cesare Brizio 52 wavelength. As reported for example by Miller (2000, 2002) in the case of K iller W hales OvtiYlUS OYCa Linnaeus, 1 75 8 (Mammalia Cetacea), as well as by Jakobsen et al. (2013) for echolocating bats, for a constant energy and emitter size, an increase in frequency, that is decrease in wavelengths, fo- cuses the energy in a beam that is narrower (thus, more directional) but longer, which at short dis- tances counteracts the decrease in range due to increased atmospheric attenuation at higher frequencies. Unfortunately, field recording condi- tion and uncontrollable specimen position in the wild did notallow to draw any conclusion about the orientation of the singing specimen relative to the microphone axis, neither to measure the different relevance of ultrasound components at different angles between the singing specimen and the m ic ro p h o n e . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dr. Jerome Sueur and Prof. Gianni Pavan kin- dly reviewed the original draft and provided some important suggestions. This does not imply that the contributors fully endorse the author's conclu- sions. REFERENCES Barber J.R. & Conner W.E., 2007. Acoustic mimicry in a predator-prey interaction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 104: 9331-9334. Brizio C. & Buzzetti F.M ., 2014. Ultrasound recordings of some Orthoptera from Sardinia (Italy). Biodiver- sity Journal, 5: 2 5-3 8. Conner W., 1999. 'Un chantd'appel amoureux'- acou Stic communication in moths Journal of Experimental Biology, 202: 1 7 1 1-1723. Corcoran A.J., Conner W.E. & Barber J.R., 2009. Tiger Moth Jams Bat Sonar. Science, 325 (5938): 325-327. Jakobsen L., Ratcliffe J.M. & Surlykke A., 2013. Convergent acoustic field of view in echolocating bats. Nature, 493: 93-96. Miller P.J.O., 2000. Maintaining contact: design and use of acoustic signals in killer whales, OfCinilS OVCCl. PhD dissertation. M assachusetts Institute of Techno- logy, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Miller P.J.O., 2002. Mixed-directionality of killer whale stereotyped calls: a direction of movement cue? Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 52: 262-270. Nakano R., Skals N ., Takanashi T., Surlykke A., Koike T., Yoshida K., M aruyama H., Tatsuki S. & Ishikawa Y., 2008. Moths produce extremely quiet ultrasonic courtship songs by rubbing specialized scales. Proceedings of the N atio nal Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105: 11812-11817. Nakano R., Ishikawa Y., Tatsuki S ., Skals N ., Surlykke A. & Takanashi T., 2009. Private ultrasonic whis- pering in moths. Communicative & Integrative Biology, 2: 1 23-1 26. Pollack G.S. & Martins R., 2007. Flight and hearing- ultrasound sensitivity differs between flight-capable and flight-incapable morphs of a w in g -d im o rp h ic cricket species. Journal of Experimental Biology, 210: 3160-3164. Sueur J. & Aubin T., 2003. Specificity of cicada calling songs in the genus TibidnU (H em iptera: Cicadidae). Systematic Entomology, 28: 48 1-492. Sueur J., Windmill J.F.C. & Robert D., 2008. Sexual dimorphism in auditory mechanics: tympanal vibrations of CicCld(l OTlli. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2 1 1 : 2379-2387. Takanashi T., Ryo Nakano R ., Surlykke A., Tatsuta H ., Tabata J., Ishikawa Y. & Niels Skals N ., 2010. Variation in Courtship Ultrasounds of three Ostvilflid moths with different sex pheromones. PLoS One, 5(10) :e 13 144 Yager D.D., 2012. Predator detection and evasion by flying insects. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 22: 201-207. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 53-72 A multi-year survey of the butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalo- cera) of a defined area of theTriestine karst, Italy Peter F. McGrath IAP/TWAS, ICTP campus, Strada Costiera 11, 34151 Trieste, Italy; e-mail: mcgrath@twas.org ABSTRACT A photographic survey of butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) was carried out over a period of three years (2011, 2012 and 2013) in an area around the villages of Malchina, Ceroglie and Slivia, the municipality of Duino-Aurisina near Trieste, in the Friuli Venezia-Giulia region, northeast Italy. Historically, this area of the Triestine karst has been influenced by human activities. Grazing intensity, however, has declined over the past 50-100 years, leading to encroachment of the forested areas over previously more open grasslands. During the three- year survey period, sampling intensity, measured as the number of days during which butter- flies were observed and/or photographed, increased from year to year. In 2012 and 2013, especially surveys began in February and continued into December. During the three years, a total of 79 species (Papilionidae, 3; Pieridae, 11; Lycaenidae, 17, Riodinidae, 1; Nymphal- idae, 37, including 15 Satyrinae; and Hesperiidae, 10), including seven listed as either endangered or near-threatened in Europe, were identified. Among the species of European conservation value recorded were: Scolitantides orion, Melitaea aurelia, Melitaea trivia, Argynnis niobe, Hipparchia statilinus , Coenonympha oedippus and Carcharodus floccifera. Strong local populations of the following regionally threatened, declining and/or protected species were also recorded: Euphydryas aurinia , Brintesia circe , Arethusana arethusa, Hipparchia fagi, Pyronia tithonus and Coenonympha arcania. Such intensive surveys cover- ing several months of each year provide in-depth knowledge of butterfly fauna in an area of changing land use, and can provide a benchmark for future surveys against a background of continued land-use change, as well as other pressures such as climate change. KEY WORDS Butterflies; Rhopalocera; Triestine karst; environmental change; biodiversity. Received 31.01.2015; accepted 28.02.2015; printed 30.03.2015 INTRODUCTION The character of the Triestine karst is determi- ned by its climate and geology. Climatically, it represents a transitional area between the Mediter- ranean and Continental/pre-alpine zones. Geologic- ally, the underlying limestone rocks contribute to features such as exposed rocky outcrops, dolinas (depressions caused by the collapse of underground caves), thin soils and little surface water (although some artificial ponds have been created) (Poldini, 1989). These physical conditions have combined with historic land-use changes to create the patchwork of habitats for which the Triestine karst is known today. The original oak forest was felled in historic times and for many years the area was heavily grazed. With a general cessation in grazing, regrowth has occurred and currently mixed woodlands dominated by Ostrya carpinifolia Scop., while Carpinus 54 Peter F. McGrath betulus L., Fraxinus ornus L., Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. and Q. pubescens Willd. are also wi- despread. Many areas of open grassland exist, includ- ing some considered as Mediterranean maquis and some cut for hay. Other areas are decreasing in size, however, as bushes and trees, including Cotinus coggygricL Scop, and Primus mahaleb L., encroach on formerly grazed or cultivated areas. The grassy areas that remain contain a mixture of xerothermic herbaceous species with a peak flowering period between mid May and mid June (Poldini, 1 989). Nat- uralised areas of Pinus nigra J.F. Arnold, introduced for timber in the 1850s, also survive in pockets. In the dolinas, where temperature inversions mean that a depth of 60 m is equivalent to an elevation of 1,500 to 1,600 m above sea level in winter and 500 m in summer (Touring Club Italiano, 1999), tree species other than O. carpini- folia dominate and the microclimate ensures the survival of glacial relict plant communities. Meanwhile, close to the villages, small-scale vineyards and vegetable plots provide mainly for local consumption. The combination of these phys- ical and biological conditions has created a unique, biodiverse environment. Paolucci (2010), for ex- ample, includes 214 species in his guide to the butterflies of northeast Italy, including the regions of Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia (the Triveneto) - or some 44% of the 482 European species, the karst playing host to well over a hundred species. The encroachment of woodland into open grassy areas due to the abandonment of formerly grazed areas, however, continues to change the character of the Triestine karst, impacting on the fauna and flora. Van Swaay & Warren (2001), for example, have noted that the abandonment of agricultural land and/or changing habitat management affects some 65% of threatened butterfly species in Europe, while widespread loss and reduction in size of breed- ing habitats resulting in habitat isolation and fragmentation affects 83% of Europe’s threatened species. Many species listed by Paolucci (2010) thus exist in fragmented habitats or at the edge of their ranges. Overlayed across such biological and anthropo- genic influences, climate change is also having noticeable effects on the distribution of many European butterfly species (Roy & Sparks, 2000; Roy et al., 2001; Warren et al., 2001; Stefanescu et al., 2003), and will continue to do so for the fore- seeable future (Settele et al., 2008). Given the importance of several Italian locations for butterfly diversity and conservation (van Swaay & Warren, 2006), alongside the lack of any sys- tematic recording scheme in the country (van Swaay et al., 2012a), this study set out, through surveying the butterfly fauna of a restricted area of the Triestine karst, to establish a benchmark against which future surveys to determine the ongoing impacts of local land-use and/or climate-induced changes can be compared. MATERIAL AND METHODS Study area A photographic survey of butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) was earned out over a period of three years in an area around the villages of Malchina, Ceroglie and Slivia, the municipality of Duino- Aurisina near Trieste, in the Friuli Venezia-Giulia region, northeast Italy, close to the border with Slovenia (Fig. 1). The highest elevation in the region is Monte Ermada (323 m) to the west of the surveyed zone, which is crossed by several rough tracks and paths. The main paths included in the surveys de- scribed herein mostly either start from or pass through Malchina, and include parts of the Gemina path, the Vertikala, CAI 3 1 and other marked paths (Fig. 1; Anonymous, 2005), and pass through various habitats, including vegetable plots, vine- yards, woodlands, dolinas, and grassland that may or may not be cut for hay. There are also several ponds in the study area, in particular one at Malchina and two close to Slivia. In Malchina itself, many gardens have nectari- ferous plants such as Lavandula L., Mentha L. and Origanum L. that flower especially in July and attract butterflies from the surrounding areas. The author’s south-facing garden is one such example. Equipment During sampling sessions, pictures were taken of as many butterflies encountered as possible - if possible including both upper- and under-wing views to assist with accurate identification. For the most part, a Pentax K-k digital camera (typically set A multi-year survey of the butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) of a defined area of the Triestine karst, Italy 55 Figure 1 . Study area. Left: location of the area surveyed in this study in relation to the rest of Italy, the Friuli Venezia Giulia region and the city of Trieste. The area highlighted in green is shown in more detail to the right. (Outline maps courtesy of d-maps.com). Right: details of roads plus key tracks and paths and other features of the survey area between Ceroglie, Mal- china and Slivia north to the border between Italy and Slovenia. to 200 ASA) was used in tandem with a Sigma 105 mm macro lens. On other occasions, other digital devices such as a compact camera or smartphone were used to record specimens. In addition, espe- cially in 2013 and for those species that are easier to identify definitively (e.g. Iphiclides podalirius , male Anthocharis cardamines , male Colias croceus or Vanessa atalanta), butterflies identified without being photographed were recorded as ‘observed’. Sampling technique/intensity Surveys were undertaken over three consecutive years by following the rough tracks, footpaths and field margins in the survey area. No attempt was made to quantify the numbers of a given species observed. Sampling intensity increased during the course of the three years, as outlined in Table 1 . In most cases, surveys were carried out for at least 30 minutes and usually for between 60 to 120 minutes. Surveys were also typically carried out on hot (for the time of year), sunny days with minimal cloud cover. In 2011, photographs were taken ad hoc, with no attempt to systematically record all sightings, rather just a few notable occurrences. In addition, in most cases, the actual sampling actual dates were not precisely recorded, just the month. In nine sampling instances, the month is recorded only as either June or July (Table 1). In 2012, more intense efforts were made to photograph or identify all butterflies observed. Survey dates (59 in total) were accurately recorded (Table 1). In 2013, attempts were made to photograph or identify all butterflies observed. As in 2012, sampling occasions noted in Table 1 as being under- taken in the author’s garden often lasted just a few minutes and tended to be limited to the period of flo- wering of the Lavandula, Mentha and Origanum plants. In other cases, butterflies observed during days when no specific (photographic) survey was undertaken were also recorded (12 such occasions). In 2013, including sampling occasions when either only observations were recorded or when no butter- flies were seen (despite favourable conditions), a total of 61 sampling sessions were undertaken (Table 1). Identification and analysis To identify the species recorded, various guide books were consulted, especially Paolucci (2010) 56 Peter F. McGrath and Tolman & Lewington (1997). In cases of uncertainty, experts belonging to the Forum Entomologi Italiani (http://www.entomologiitaliani. net) were consulted by posting suitable photographs online. The author also gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Lucio Morin, a local butterfly expert, for help with either the identification or confirm- ation of the identification of a number of specimens. Among those species that can be difficult to distinguish from photographs, L. Morin (pers. comm.) also confirms that the species found in the sampling area are Leptidea sinapis, not L. reali, Colias alfacariensis Ribbe, 1905, not C. hyale (Linnaeus, 1758), and Plebejus argus, not PI. idas (Linnaeus, 1761). In the case of white Pieridae, especially when no suitable photograph was ob- tained, individuals could often only be identified to the genus level ( Pieris ). In 2011 or 2012, Pieris spp. were not regularly recorded, either as photo- graphs or as ‘observed’. Species names are valid as per the listing on Fauna Europea (www.faunaeur. org). It should be noted, however, that Fauna Europea considers Hamearis lucina (Linnaeus, 1758) as a member of the family Riodinidae, whereas it is now included among the Lycaenidae by many authors. The conservation status of the species observed is based on the European Red List of Butterflies (van Swaay et al., 2010), the list provided by van Swaay et al. (2012b) for the European Habitats Directive, and the list for the Triveneto region provided by Paolucci (2010). RESULTS Environmental variables A total of 482, 1,208 and 1,657 photographs were retained from sampling surveys carried out in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. These photo- graphs accounted for 156, 479 and 738 individual butterflies in each of the three years, respectively. In addition, in 2013, some 128 individuals were recorded as ‘observed’ but not photographed. During these three years, 79 butterfly species were recorded. Of these, 45 were recorded in 201 1 when sampling was less intensive, 63 in 2012, and 70 in 2013 (Tables 2, 3 and 4). Of the 79 species recorded, 3 belonged to the family Papilionidae; 11 to the Pieridae; 17 to the Lycaenidae; one to the Riodinidae; 37 to the Nymphalidae, of which 15 were Satyrinae; and 10 to the Hesperiidae. In early 2012, no butterflies were observed or photographed during the single sampling date in February (12th), although they were on two of three dates in March (on 1 1th and 24th, but not on 26th). Likewise, in 2013, no butterflies were observed or photographed on the February sampling date (16th), while they were recorded on one of the two sampling dates in March (on 3rd, but not on 22nd), and on nine of 10 dates in April (not on 15th). Among the early-season (up to mid April) species recorded were Pieris rapae , P. napi, Gonepteryx rhamni, Libythea celtis , Nymphalis polychloros, Pararge aegeria and Erynnis tages. In the second half of April, 15 species were recorded in 2012 (including one specimen of Zeryn- thia polyxena on 30 April) and 16 in 2013 (Tables 3 and 4). Among these in 2013 was V. atalanta, which was also regularly recorded in early March 2014. With regard to late-season records, in 2012, butterflies were recorded on 2 and 3 November, but not 22nd. No sampling was undertaken in Decem- ber 2012. In 2013, butterflies were recorded on three of four dates in November (1,10 and 17th, but not on 24th), and on one of two dates in December (on 14th but not on 7th). These late-season species (observed in November and into early Decem- ber), included C. crocea, L. celtis , V atalanta and Cacyreus marshalli. The highest number of species recorded in a single day was 24 (on 24 August 2013), with more than 20 species also being recorded on six other occasions in 2013 (22 June, 13 and 20 July, 16 and 18 August and 9 September). In 2012, the max- imum number of species recorded in a single day was 17 (on 17 July). Comparing the number of species observed during half-month periods (Tables 2, 3 and 4), 37 species were recorded in the second half of July 2013, with 50 species recorded for the month as a whole (Table 4). Similarly, in 2012, more species were recorded in July than any other month (37), although the diversity was greater in the first half of the month (29 species compared to 19 in the second half of the month) (Table 3). Among the species most commonly recorded (depending on their respective flight periods) were I. podalirius , P. rapae and P. mannii, PI. argus, Polyommatus icarus, Po. bellargus, V. atalanta. A multi-year survey of the butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) of a defined area of the Triestine karst, Italy 57 Melanargia galathea, f. procida, Maniola jurtina and Coenonympha pamphilus. Among the most commonly recorded Hesperiidae were E. tages, Hesperia comma and Ochlodes sylvanus. Other species were relatively common in some years, but not recorded in other years. Aporia crataegi, for example, was recorded in 2011 and 2013 but not in 2012. Likewise, Hipparchia stat- ilinus and Coenonympha oedippus were recorded only in 2012, and Aricia agestis and Pontia edusa only in 2013 (Tables 2, 3 and 4). Also of note were variant forms of some species. M. galathea was always present as M. galathea f. procida, along with a small percentage of f. leucomelas. Likewise, a small percentage of Argyn- nis paphia, were f. valesina. Species recorded rarely (i.e. no more than two individuals recorded in any one year) in the area surveyed include Z. polyxena, Callophtys rubi, Leptotes pirithous, Cupido argiades, Cyaniris semiargus, Po. daphnis, Scolitantides orion, Nymphalis antiopa, Aglais io, Polygonia c-album, Melitaea aurelia, Brenthis hecate, Argynnis adippe, A. niobe, C. oedippus, Carcharodus alceae, Carcharodus floccifera and Spialia serorius. Among these, Z polyxena, S. orion, N. antiopa, M. aurelia, B. hecate and C. oedippus are notable owing to their conservation status (see below). Of particular interest are seven species recorded in the survey area that are included in the European Red List of Butterflies (van Swaay et al., 2010). The conservation status of these species is outlined in Table 5. In addition, van Swaay et al. (2010) also note that Euphydryas aurinia, C. oedippus and Z. polyxena are listed in 1 6, 2 and 1 European LIFE projects (see http://ec.europa.eu/ environment/life/), respectively, with special efforts being made towards their conservation. A number of other species recorded in the three- year survey are also of regional conservation in- terest (Table 6). Other than species such as Callophrys rubi, N. antiopa and Melitaea trivia that were recorded infrequently, healthy populations of vulnerable and locally protected species (including L. celtis, E. aurinia, Brintesia circe, Arethusana arethusa, Hipparchia fagi and Coenonympha arcania ) were recorded in the survey area. The case of E. aurinia is interesting in that no individuals were recorded south of the road that bisects the village of Malchina (SS4); although never abundant, it was observed in reasonable numbers in localized areas north of SS4, but never far (no more than 500 m) from Malchina itself. Likewise, all individuals of C. oedippus were recor- ded within an area of radius no more than 150 m, also to the north of Malchina. In addition to those species highlighted in Table 6, a further five species found in the survey area are recorded by Paolucci (2010) as being lower risk/near threatened (LR/NT) in the Triveneto region: Cupido alcetas, S. orion, Hamearis lucina, Melitaea athalia and Minois dryas. Of these, H. lucina and M. dryas are also relatively common and well distributed throughout most of the survey area (Tables 2, 3 and 4). Likewise, Paolucci (2010) records the following species as data deficient (DD) in the Triveneto region: P. mannii, Favonius quercus, C. argiades, N. polychloros, M. aurelia, A. niobe and C. flocci- fera. Of these, P mannii and, early in the season, N. polychloros both maintain reasonable popula- tions in the survey area (Tables 3 and 4). Thus, the three-year survey undertaken by the author helps to fill some of these data gaps. DISCUSSION The total of 79 species recorded during the three- year survey period compares favorably with other areas of Europe. In the whole of the United King- dom, for example, there are just 57 resident plus two regular migrant species (Asher et al., 2001). Wagner et al. (2013) recorded 49 butterfly species from 27 sites along an altitude gradient in Bavaria, Germany; while Veronivnik et al. (2011 a) recorded between 42 and 61 species each year during a five-year survey (2007-2011) of a disused army base at Mlake in Slov- enia, recording a total of 95 species overall. In north- ern Italy, Marini et al. (2009) recorded 60 butterfly species through sampling 44 hay meadow parcels during a single year (2007) in the Trento region, while Boriani et al. (2005) sampled nine sites of three different rural habitat types in Emilia-Ro- magna in 2002 and 2003, identifying 39 species. The total also compares well with the 91 butterfly species recorded by Carrara (1926) following many years of collection and study in the area around Trieste (immediately to the east of the area that is the focus of this study and covering a much larger area). 58 Peter F. McGrath Month- Dates/ Year Feb Mar Mar Apr Apr May May Jun Jun Jul Jul 16-28 1-15 16-31 1-15 16-30 1-15 16-31 1-15 16-30 1-15 16-31 2011 0 0 0 1 1 5 1 5 1 3 2 3 2 9 3 9 3 2012 l 4 1 2 1 6 5 4 3 1 7 1 9 1 8 6 2013 l 4 1 l 4 2 8 io 5 11 3 11 6 11 4 11 5 11 77,11 Month- Dates/ Year Aug Aug Sept Sept Oct Oct Nov Nov Dec Total 1-15 16-31 1-15 16-30 1-15 16-31 1-15 16-30 1-15 2011 5 5 3 3 2 2 0 0 0 28 2012 4 7 4 3 2 0 8 O 8 2 1 0 59 2013 l7, 11 3 4 2 2 11 3 1 2 11 2 9 2 12 61 Table 1. Sampling intensity broken down into half- month intervals. Sampling occasions marked as ‘in author’s garden’ or ‘observations only’ (see footnotes) were less intense than other occasions that involved excursions along the various paths highlighted in Fig. 1. 1 Of which 3 occasions in author’s garden, Malchina. 2 Of which 2 occasions in author’s garden, Malchina. 3 Refers to June and July together, of which 7 occasions in author’s garden, Malchina. 4 No butterflies observed. 5 One sampling date included two periods (30 April, a.m. and p.m.). 6 Of which 6 in author’s garden, Malchina. 7 Of which 1 occasion in author’s garden, Malchina. 8 Owing to other commitments, no surveys were undertaken during October 2012. 9 No butterflies observed. Sampling earned out in evening (17:50-18:20) after warm sunny day. 10 Of which 2 occasions: ‘observations’ only (no photographs) - within Malchina itself. 11 Of which 1 occasion: ‘observations’ only (no photographs) - within Malchina itself. 12 Of which 1 occasion: ‘observations’ only (no photographs) (14 December) within Malchina itself. No butterflies recorded on other sampling date (7 December). TOTAL SPECIES 45 April (l) 1 May (5) June (3) June- July (9) Aug (5) Sept (3) Oct (2) PAPILIONIDAE Iphiclides podalirius (Linnaeus, 1758) X _X X X Papilio machaon Linnaeus, 1758 _x X X PIERIDAE Anthocharis cardamines (Linnaeus, 175 8) 0 Aporia crataegi (Linnaeus, 1758) _X_ Pieris mannii (Mayer, 1851) _x_ Pieris rapae (Linnaeus, 1758) _x_ Leptidea sinapis (Linnaeus, 1758) X X Colias croceus (Fourcroy, 1785) X X x_ Gonepteryx rhamni (Linnaeus, 1758) _x_ LYCAENIDAE Favonius quercus (Linnaeus, 1758) X Satyrium ilicis (Esper, 1779) _x_ Lycaena phlaeas (Linnaeus, 1761) _x_ Cacyreus marshalli Butler, 1898 x_ Cupido argiades (Pallas, 1771) X Table 2 (1/2). Summary of butterfly species recorded and observed in the study area in 2011. 1 Figures in brackets indicate no. of sampling sessions per month (or June/July period). 2 Actual sampling session not recorded, x = Either one or two individuals photographed during a sampling session; X = 3 or more individuals photographed during a sampling session; o = Observed (but not photographed) during a sampling session; _ (or blank) = Neither photographed nor observed during a sampling session. A multi-year survey of the butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) of a defined area of the Triestine karst, Italy 59 Species April (l) 1 May (5) June (3) June- July (9) Aug (5) Sept (3) Oct (2) Plebejus argus (Linnaeus, 1758) X x X_Xx_ x_ Plebejus argyrognomon (Bergstrasser, 1779) X Polyommatus bellargus (Rottemburg, 1775) _X_ X xx_ Xxx Polyommatus icarus (Rottemburg, 1775) _X_ _xx X _x RIODINIDAE Hamearis lucina (Linnaeus, 1758) X X X NYMPHALIDAE Vanessa atalanta (Linnaeus, 1758) X Vanessa cardui (Linnaeus, 1758) _x_ Limenitis reducta Staudinger, 1901 X X Melitaea aurelia Nickerl, 1 850 X Melitaea didyma (Esper, 1778) XX_ Euphydtyas aurinia (Rottemburg, 1775) X X Issoria lathonia (Linnaeus, 1758) X_X Argynnis paphia (Linnaeus, 1758) X X Argynnis adippe (Denis et Schiffermuller, 1775) X Boloria dia (Linnaeus, 1767) X 2 Brenthis hecate (Denis et Schiffermuller, 1775) X Melanargia galathea procida (Linnaeus, 1758) X NYMPHALIDAE, Satyrinae Minois dryas (Scopoli, 1763) xxx_x X Brintesia circe (Linnaeus, 1775) _x_ Arethusana arethusa (Denis et Schiffermuller, 1775) xxx_x _x_ Hipparchia fagi (Scopoli, 1763) XX xxx_x X Hipparchia semele (Linnaeus, 1758) _x _x Lasiommata maera (Linnaeus, 1758) X X _x_ Pararge aegeria (Linnaeus, 1758) X Pyronia tithonus (Linnaeus, 1767) _x_ Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) X X _x_ Coenonympha arcania (Linnaeus, 1761) _X_ Coenonympha pamphilus (Linnaeus, 1758) X xx_ xx_ _xXx_ _xx _x HESPERIIDAE Erynnis tages (Linnaeus, 1758) X Hesperia comma (Linnaeus, 1758) _xx Ochlodes sylvanus (Esper, 1777) X X X No . of species/month 3 14 11 10 14 21 6 Table 2 (2/2). Summary of butterfly species recorded and observed in the study area in 2011. 1 Figures in brackets indicate no. of sampling sessions per month (or June/July period). 2 Actual sampling session not recorded, x = Either one or two individuals photographed during a sampling session; X = 3 or more individuals photographed during a sampling session; o = Observed (but not photographed) during a sampling session; _ (or blank) = Neither photographed nor observed during a sampling session. 60 Peter F. McGrath TOTAL SPECIES 63 Feb (l) 1 March 1-15(1) March 16-31(2) April 1-15(1) April 16-30(6) May 1-15(4) May 16-31(3) June 1-15(1) June 16-30(6) PAPILION ID AE Iphiclides podalirius X X XX Zerynthia polyxena (Denis et Schiffermuller, 1 775 ) 2 X PIERIDAE Anthocharis card amines X Pieris mannii Pieris napi Linnaeus, 1758 X X Pieris rapae x X X x_x_xx Pieris sp. Leptidea sinapis _xx Colias alfacariensis Ribbe, 1905 XX Colias croceus X Colias sp. Gonepteryx rhamni X LYCAENIDAE Favonius quercus X Satyrium ilicis xx_ Callophrys rubi (Linnaeus, 1758) X Lycaena phlaeas Leptotes pirithous (Linnaeus, 1767) Cacyreus marshalli Celastrina argiolus (Linnaeus, 1758) Cupido alcetas (Hoffmannsegg, 1 804) X X XX Scolitantides orion (Pallas, 1771) X Plebejus argus X X X XX Plebejus argyrognomon Polyommatus bellargus X _x_ XX Polyommatus icarus Xx X X Polyommatus sp. RIODINIDAE Hamearis lucina xx_ xxx_ NYMPHALIDAE Libythea celtis (Laicharting, 1782) X X X Vanessa atalanta Vanessa cardui Nymphalis polychloros (Linnaeus, 1758) X X Table 3 (1/4). Summary of butterfly species recorded and observed in the study area in II-VI.2012. Legend: 1 Figures in brackets indicate no. of sampling sessions per month. 2 Author provided only for those species not recorded in 201 1 (Table 2). x = Either one or two individuals photographed during a sampling session; X = 3 or more individuals photographed during a sampling session; o = Observed (but not photographed) during a sampling session; _ (or blank) = Neither photo- graphed nor observed during a sampling session. A multi-year survey of the butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) of a defined area of the Triestine karst, Italy 61 Species Feb (l) 1 March 1-15(1) March 16-31(2) April 1-15(1) April 16-30(6) May 1-15(4) May 16-31(3) June 1-15(1) June 16-30(6) Polygonia c-album (Linnaeus, 1758) X Limenitis reducta _x_ Melitaea athalia (Rottemburg, 1775) X X Melitaea aurelia X Melitaea cinxia (Linnaeus, 1758) X X X Melitaea didyma X x_ Melitaea trivia (Denis et Schiffermuller, 1775) X X X Euphydryas aurinia xxx_ _xx_ Issoria lathonia X Argynnis paphia _X X_ Boloria dia xxxx Brenthis daphne (Bergstrasser, 1780) X Brenthis hecate X Melanargia galathea procida X xx_xx_ Minois dryas Brintesia circe X Arethusana arethusa Hipparchia fagi Hipparchia statilinus (Hufnagel, 1766) Hipparchia semele Lasiommata maera X X X X Lasiommata megera (Linnaeus, 1767) Pararge aegeria X X XX Pyronia tithonus Maniola jurtina X xx_xx_ Coenonympha arcania _X_ X X Coenonympha oedippus (Fabricius 1787) Coenonympha pamphilus xxx_x_ XX X xX_x HESPERIIDAE Carcharodus alceae (Esper, 1780) X Erynnis tages X XX _x Hesperia comma Ochlodes sylvanus X Spialia sertorius (Hoffmannsegg, 1 804) X Thymelicus lineola (Ochsenheimer, 1808) X X Thymelicus sylvestris (Poda, 1761) X Total spp. for period 0 2 1 5 18 11 7 13 25 Total spp. for month 0 3 20 16 28 Table 3 (2/4). Summary of butterfly species recorded and observed in the study area in II-VI.2012. Legend: 1 Figures in brackets indicate no. of sampling sessions per month. 2 Author provided only for those species not recorded in 201 1 (Table 2). x = Either one or two individuals photographed during a sampling session; X = 3 or more individuals photographed during a sampling session; o = Observed (but not photographed) during a sampling session; _ (or blank) = Neither photo- graphed nor observed during a sampling session. 62 Peter F. McGrath Species July 1-15(9)! July 16-31(8) Aug 1-15(4) Aug 16-31(4) Sept 1-15(3) Sept 16-30(2) Oct (0) Nov 1-15(2) Nov 16-30(1) PAPILIONIDAE Iphiclides podalirius _x_x Zerynthia polyxena (Denis et Schiffermuller, 1 7 7 5 ) 2 FIERI DAE Anthocharis cardamines Pieris mannii x X X _x Pieris napi Pieris rapae X XX _x _x Pieris sp. _x_x_ Leptidea sinapis X X Colias alfacariensis Ribbe, 1905 _X X Colias croceus X _x Xx Colias sp. X Gonepteryx rhamni LYCAENIDAE Favonius quercus X X _x Satyrium ilicis X Callophrys rubi (Linnaeus, 1758) Lycaena phlaeas xx_ Leptotes pirithous (Linnaeus, 1767) _x Cacyreus marshalli X X _x_ Celastrina argiolus (Linnaeus, 1758) X _xxxx_ x_x_ Cupido alcetas (Hoffmannsegg, 1 804) X X X Scolitantides orion (Pallas, 1771) Plebejus argus _X_Xx _Xx_xXxx _X_ _X Plebejus argyrognomon X Polyommatus bellargus X _XX_ _xXx X_ Polyommatus icarus X _X_X_X Xx xx_x x_X _X Polyommatus sp. x_ RIODINIDAE Hamearis lucina X X X NYMPHALIDAE Libythea celtis (Laicharting, 1782) x_ Vanessa atalanta X _x x_ Vanessa cardui X Nymphalis polych loros (Linnaeus, 1758) Table 3 (3/4). Summary of butterfly species recorded and observed in the study area in VII-XI.2012. Legend: 1 Figures in brackets indicate no. of sampling sessions per month. 2 Author provided only for those species not recorded in 201 1 (Table 2). x = Either one or two individuals photographed during a sampling session; X = 3 or more individuals photographed during a sampling session; o = Observed (but not photographed) during a sampling session; _ (or blank) = Neither photo- graphed nor observed during a sampling session. A multi-year survey of the butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) of a defined area of the Triestine karst, Italy 63 Species July 1-15(9)! July 16-31(8) Aug 1-15(4) Aug 16-31(4) Sept 1-15(3) Sept 16-30(2) Oct (0) Nov 1-15(2) Nov 16-30(1) Polygonia c-album (Linnaeus, 1758) Limenitis reducta x x_x_ X_X Melitaea athalia (Rottemburg, 1775) _x Melitaea aurelia X Melitaea cinxia (Linnaeus, 1758) Melitaea didyma x_ X Melitaea Mvia (Denis et Schiffermuller, 1775) Euphydryas aurinia Issoria lathonia X Argynnis paphia xx_x _x Boloria dia X _x Brenthis daphne (Bergstrasser, 1780) Brenthis hecate X Melanargia galathea procida _xxXX_xx Minois dryas X xxx_ X X Brintesia circe _x_x _x _x X_X Are thus ana are thus a _Xxx xx_ Hipparchia fagi X _X_ XX Hipparchia statilinus (Hufnagel, 1766) X X X Hipparchia semele _X Lasiommata maera _x_x XX X_ Lasiommata megera (Linnaeus, 1767) X Pararge aegeria X _x Pyronia tithonus X xxxx xxx_ Maniola jurtina x_xxx_ _x xx_ XX XXx_ x_x _X Coenonympha arcania X X Coenonympha oedippus (Fabricius 1787) XX Coenonympha pamphilus X X _XX_ X X_x XX HESPERIIDAE Carcharodus alceae (Esper, 1780) Erynnis tages X Hesperia comma Xx X_ Ochlodes sylvanus XX_XX_X_ X Spialia sertorius (Floffmannsegg, 1 804) Thymelicus lineola (Ochsenheimer, 1808) Thymelicus sylvestris (Poda, 1761) X Total spp. for period 29 19 19 14 16 11 — 3 0 Total spp. for month 37 23 21 — 3 Table 3 (4/4). Summary of butterfly species recorded and observed in the study area in VII-XI.2012. Legend: 1 Figures in brackets indicate no. of sampling sessions per month. 2 Author provided only for those species not recorded in 201 1 (Table 2). x = Either one or two individuals photographed during a sampling session; X = 3 or more individuals photographed during a sampling session; o = Observed (but not photographed) during a sampling session; _ (or blank) = Neither photo- graphed nor observed during a sampling session. 64 Peter F. McGrath TOTAL SPECIES 70 Feb 16-28(1)‘ March 1-15(1) March 16-31(1) April 1-15(2) April 16-30(8) May 1-15(5) May 16-31(3) June 1-15(6) June 16-30(4) July 1-15(5) PAPILION ID AE Iphiclides podalirius _x_oo_ xO_xo o_x o oXxXx Papilio machaon 0 PIERIDAE Anthocharis cardamines _xx X Aporia crataegi X xoxxoo _x Pieris brassicae (Linnaeus, 1758) 0 Pieris mannii X X _XXo_ Pieris napi X X Pieris rapae x_xxo_ xo 0 X Pieris sp. 0 _ ox_o Pontia edusa (Fabricius, 1777) Leptidea sinapis _oo_ox x_xox _xx XX x_x Colias alfacariensis o_x Colias croceus o_x 000 oxx_o Colias sp. Gonepteryx rhamni 0 X 00 0 LYCAENIDAE Favonius quercus Satyrium ilicis _xxXx o_xx _x Callophrys rubi X Lycaena phlaeas X _0 Cacyreus marshalli _ 0 _ Celastrina argiolus X XX _xxxx Cupido alcetas X Scolitantides orion X x_ Aricia agestis (Denis et Schiffermuller, 1775) XX Plebejus argus _ox_ oXx X_XxX xX Plebejus argyronomon X Plebejus sp. Cyaniris semiargus (Rottemburg, 1775) X Polyommatus bellargus _Xx _oxxx_ o_xx Polyommatus daphnis (Denis et Schiffermuller, 1775) Polyommatus icarus _xx x_xX_x _xxx Polyommatus sp. X X X Table 4 (1/6). Summary of butterfly species recorded and observed in the study area in II-15.VII.20 13. Legend: 1 Figures in brackets indicate no. of sampling sessions per month. 2 Author provided only for those species not recorded in 201 1 or 2012 (Tables 2 and 3). x = Either one or two individuals photographed during a sampling session; X = 3 or more individuals photographed during a sampling session; o = Observed (but not photographed) during a sampling session; _ (or blank) = Neither photographed nor observed during a sampling session. A multi-year survey of the butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) of a defined area of the Triestine karst, Italy 65 Species Feb 16-28(iy March 1-15(1) March 16-31(1) April 1-15(2) April 16-30(8) May 1-15(5) May 16-31(3) June 1-15(6) June 16-30(4) July 1-15(5) RIODINIDAE Ham ear is lucina X oo X NYMPHALIDAE Libythea celtis X 0 X 0 Vanessa atalanta 0 0_0_ _X_00 Vanessa cardui X _xx Agalais io (Linnaeus, 1758) X Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) 0 X _x_ Nymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758) Nymphalis polychloros X x_ X Polygonia c-album 0 _x_ Limenitis reducta X X XXX 0_ 0 Melitaea athalia XX X Melitaea cinxia _xX Melitaea didyma X X XX _x_x_ Melitaea trivia X Euphydtyas aurinia X X _xx Issoria lathonia X Argynnis paphia x_ Argynnis niobe ( Linnaeus, 1758) X Argynnis sp. Boloria dia X Brenthis daphne X XX X Melanarga galathea procida Xxx XX oxXxX Minois dryas Brintesia circe oX _xxxX Arethusana arethusa Hipparchia fagi _x Hipparchia semele _x Lasiommata maera _xx xoXXxx XX Lasiommata megera X X X o_xxX Pararge aegeria x_xx_oo_ X 0 XX X X Pyronia tithonus Maniola jurtina _XX x_Xxxx XX _xXxo Coenonympha arcania _XX x_XxXx o_xx 0 xo Coenonympha pamphilus x_X _Xx x_xxxx XX _xx_x Table 4 (2/6). Summary of butterfly species recorded and observed in the study area in II-15.VII.20 13. Legend: 1 Figures in brackets indicate no. of sampling sessions per month (or June/July period). 2 Author provided only for those species not recorded in 201 1 or 2012 (Tables 2 and 3). x = Either one or two individuals photographed during a sampling session; X = 3 or more individuals photographed during a sampling session; o = Observed (but not photographed) during a sampling session; _ (or blank) = Neither photographed nor observed during a sampling session. 66 Peter F. McGrath Species Feb 16-28(iy March 1-15(1) March 16-31(1) April 1-15(2) April 16-30(8) May 1-15(5) May 16-31(3) June 1-15(6) June 16-30(4) July 1-15(5) HESPERIIDAE Carcharodus floccifera (Zeller, 1847) Erynnis tages xox_x o 0 Hesperia comma Ochlodes sylvanus XX xX oXxxx Pyrgus amoricanus (Oberthiir, 1910) Pyrgus malvoides (Elwes et Edwards, 1 897) Spialia sertorius X Thymelicus lineola Xxx x_ Thymelicus sylvestris XX Total spp. for period 0 2 0 1 16 22 18 30 26 33 Total spp. for month 0 2 16 30 37 Table 4 (3/6). Summaiy of butterfly species recorded and observed in the study area in II-15.VII.2013. Legend: 1 Figures in brackets indicate no. of sampling sessions per month. 2 Author provided only for those species not recorded in 2011 or 2012 (Tables 2 and 3). x = Either one or two individuals photographed during a sampling session; X = 3 or more individuals photographed during a sampling session; o = Observed (but not photographed) during a sampling session; _ (or blank) = Neither photographed nor observed during a sampling session. Species July 16-31(7)i Aug 1-15(1) Aug 16-31(3) Sept 1-15(2) Sept 16-30(2) Oct 1-15(3) Oct 16-31(1) Nov 1-15(2) Nov 16-30(2) Dec 1-15(2) PAPILIONIDAE Iphiclides podalirius oX_Xx_x Papilio machaon _X_ _x_ 0 PIERIDAE Anthocharis cardamines Aporia crataegi Pieris brassicae (Linnaeus, 1758) Pieris mannii _xxxx_x 0 _x Pieris napi X _x Pieris rapae 0 x_ Pieris sp. 0 oox _0 0_ 0 0 Pontia edusa (Fabricius, 1777) X _0 0_ Leptidea sinapis _xx x_x x_ _0 Colias alfacariensis _x_x_ Table 4 (4/6). Summary of butterfly species recorded and observed in the study area in 16.VII-XII.20 13. Legend: 1 Figures in brackets indicate no. of sampling sessions per month (or June/July period). 2 Author provided only for those species not recorded in 201 1 or 2012 (Tables 2 and 3). x = Either one or two individuals photographed during a sampling session; X = 3 or more individuals photographed during a sampling session; o = Observed (but not photographed) during a sampling session; _ (or blank) = Neither photographed nor observed during a sampling session. A multi-year survey of the butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) of a defined area of the Triestine karst, Italy 67 Species July 16-31(7)‘ Aug 1-15(1) Aug 16-31(3) Sept 1-15(2) Sept 16-30(2) Oct 1-15(3) Oct 16-31(1) Nov 1-15(2) Nov 16-30(2) Dec 1-15(2) PIERIDAE Colias croceus XX X xo X 0 Colias sp. x Gonepteryx rhamni x LYCAEN1DAE Favonius quercus 0 Satyrium ilicis Callophrys rubi Lycaena phlaeas x_ x_ 0 x_ Cacyreus marshalli _x_ X Celastrina argiolus 0 xx_ x_ Cupido alcetas Scolitcintides orion Arid a agestis (Denis et Schiffermuller, 1775) _X_ 0 x_x x_ Plebejus argus _x_XxXx 0 xxX _0 Plebejus argyronomon X X Plebejus sp. X Cyaniris semiargus (Rottemburg, 1775) Polyommatus bellargus 0 XXX Xx _x Polyommatus daphnis (Denis et Schiffermuller, 1775) X Polyommatus icarus XXx XXX Xx _x X X Polyommatus sp. RIODINIDAE Ham ear is lucina O X NYMPHALIDAE Libythea celtis X Vanessa atalanta X X_0 0_ oxx X xo X 0 Vanessa cardui Agalais io (Linnaeus, 1758) Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) XX_ Nymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758) 0 Nymphalis polychloros Polygonia c-album Limenitis reducta oo_xx_x 0 XXX _x ox X Melitaea athalia Table 4 (5/6). Summary of butterfly species recorded and observed in the study area in 16.VII-XII.20 13. Legend: 1 Figures in brackets indicate no. of sampling sessions per month. 2 Author provided only for those species not recorded in 201 1 or 2012 (Tables 2 and 3). x = Either one or two individuals photographed during a sampling session; X = 3 or more individuals photographed during a sampling session; o = Observed (but not photographed) during a sampling session; _ (or blank) = Neither photographed nor observed during a sampling session. 68 Peter F. McGrath Species July 16-31(7) 1 Aug 1-15(1) Aug 16-31(3) Sept 1-15(2) Sept 16-30(2) Oct 1-15(3) Oct 16-31(1) Nov 1-15(2) Nov 16-30(2) Dec 1-15(2) Melitaea cinxia Melitaea didyma X_X x_ Melitaea trivia Euphydryas aurinia Issoria lathonia _o_x_ X Argynnis paphia ox xo Argynnis niobe (Linnaeus, 1758) Argynnis sp. _ 0 _ Boloria dia X Brenthis daphne Melanarga galathea procida ox_xx_ Minois dry as XXX x_ _x Brintesia circe OX XX X XX x_ _x Arethusana arethusa XxX Hipparchia fagi X Xox Xx ox Hippar chia semele XX _X x_x Lcisiommata maera X xX _X Lasiommata megera xx_ xxX x_ _x Pararge aegeria X XXX XX oX 0_0 X Pyronia tithonus Xx_ 0 x_x x_ Maniola jurtina 0 xxX xX Coenonympha arcania 0 Coenonympha pamphilus xx_x XXX Xx _x _xx X HESPERIIDAE Carcharodus floccifera (Zeller, 1847) X Erynnis tages _xXXx_ _x_ Hesperia comma XXX xX _x Ochlodes sylvanus ooxXx Pyrgus amoricanus (Oberthiir, 1910) X X ox Pyrgus malvoides (Elwes et Edwards, 1 897) 0 X x_ Spialia sertorius Thymelicus lineola Thymelicus sylvestris X Total spp. for period 37 9 31 27 18 8 7 4 4 2 Total spp. for month 50 33 30 10 6 2 Table 4 (6/6). Summary of butterfly species recorded and observed in the study area in 16.VII-XII.20 13. Legend: 1 Figures in brackets indicate no. of sampling sessions per month. 2 Author provided only for those species not recorded in 201 1 or 2012 (Tables 2 and 3). x = Either one or two individuals photographed during a sampling session; X = 3 or more individuals photographed during a sampling session; o = Observed (but not photographed) during a sampling session; _ (or blank) = Neither photographed nor observed during a sampling session. A multi-year survey of the butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) of a defined area of the Triestine karst, Italy 69 Among the species not recorded by Carrara (1926) is C. marshalli, a South African species introduced into Italy in 1997 via horticultural trade in its host plant, Pelargonium (Balletto et al., 2005). C. marshalli has been recorded from nearby Udine and Tarcento as well as Slovenia since 2008 (Bemardinelli, 2008; Verovnik et al., 2011b) and thus is likely to have arrived in the province of Trieste around the same time. Some 13 European countries, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, are implementing butterfly recording schemes in at- tempts to build long-term data sets on species abun- dance. To date, however, Italy is not among these countries (van Swaay et al., 2012a, Butterfly Con- servation Europe: http://www.bc-europe.eu/index. php?id=339, accessed 14 March 2014). Such schemes, which also record abundance, are valuable for detecting population changes over the long- term, including those influenced by climate change (Roy & Sparks, 2000; Roy et al., 2001; Warren et al., 2001; Stefanescu et al., 2003). However, a case has also been made for recording schemes that meas- ure presence rather than abundance (Casner et al., 2014), as is the case in the current study (although some inferences on abundance can perhaps be made based on repeated sightings over a short time period). This study has also identified several species- rich 1 km transects that could be used as standard transects in a regular recording scheme for the area as per current guidelines (van Swaay et al., 2012a). Among the 79 species recorded in this survey, some 14 are of conservation concern either in the region or more widely in Europe (Tables 5 and 6). Of particular note are E. aurinia and C. oedippus. In the case of E. aurinia , a number of individuals were recorded in each of the three years of the sur- vey, indicating a stable, healthy population, even if it did not cover the whole of the survey area. While C. oedippus was recorded only in 2012, several in- dividuals were found, indicating a relatively small but potentially healthy population that appears, however, to be isolated from any other local popu- lations. Both species were found in patches of rough vegetation and field margins of the cultivated area close to Malchina. It can also be noted that neither species was recorded from the Trieste area in the early 20th century (Carrara, 1926). Targeted sur- veys timed to coincide with peak flight periods of these two species and across a wider area than the areas identified by the author in this survey would provide useful additional information on the im- portance of the location for these two species. These two species are also among the 34 species considered by van Swaay & Warren (2006) when developing a list of Prime Butterfly Areas (PBAs) for conservation priority in Europe. When selecting their 43 1 PBAs, van Swaay & Warren (2006) took into account two types of area: discrete sites that support one or more target species; and wider areas (such as mountain ranges or valley systems) where a target species occurs as scattered populations that may well be connected as a single metapopulation. Indeed, a possible C. oedippus metapopulation has been recorded at sites around Komen, some 8 km from Malchina across the border in Slovenia (Celik & Verovnik, 2010). In Italy, C. oedippus is known from around 100 sites, although many are con- sidered under threat, mostly by natural reforestation (Bonelli et al., 2010). Further studies in and around the survey area would also help to confirm if other species recorded only rarely in the area were part of other significant metapopulations. Given the presence of both E. aurinia and C. oedippus in the survey area, the area of the Triestine karst around Malchina could be considered for pos- sible inclusion as a PBA. This would add to the cluster of PBAs already identified in the Friuli Venezia Giulia/Slovenia/Istria region. The fact that the area also habours a number of other species at risk regionally, including strong populations of L. celtis , B. circe , An arethusa, //. fagi and C. arcania, as well as populations of other species such as H. statilinus and Pyronia tithonus (Tables 2, 3, 4, and 6) adds to the value of the area. Species European (EU25) status EU27 status 1 Scolitantides onion LC NT Melitaea aurelia NT LC Melitaea trivia LC NT Argymnis niobe LC NT Hipparchia statilinus NT NT Coenonympha oedippus EN LC Carcharodus floccifera NT LC Table 5. European-level conservation status of endangered and threatened butterfly species recorded in the survey area (from van Swaay et al., 2010 and 2012b). LC = Least concern; NT = Near threatened; EN = Endangered. 1 EU27 includes also Bulgaria and Romania 70 Peter F. McGrath As a designated Natura 2000 site (see Natura Net- work Viewer: http://natura2000.eea.europa.eu/#), much of the survey area is theoretically protected from development. In practice, however, the on- going abandonment of agricultural fields and succes- sion to more overgrown/wooded areas (Poldini, 1989) or other threats such as construction of new housing continue to erode suitable butterfly habitats. As mentioned earlier, the abandonment of agricul- tural land and/or changing habitat management affects many of Europe’s threatened butterfly species, while other important threats include climate change, increased frequency and intensity of fires and tourism development (van Swaay et al., 2010). Indeed, in 2012, several areas close to the survey area were affected by fire (Tosques, 2012a; 2012b). Habitat loss is, however, regarded as the greatest threat to butterflies. Van Swaay & WaiTen (2006), for example, highlight that even species targeted for con- servation are declining not only within PBAs, but also within protected areas. Likewise, in the UK, Warren et al. (2001) demonstrated that, despite the positive ef- fects of climate change on range expansion, for three- quarters of 46 species considered, these gains were outweighed by the negative effects of habitat loss. Van Swaay & Warren (2006) conclude that le- gislation alone is not enough to maintain threatened populations, but that practical conservation meas- ures are also urgently needed. Such measures should include sound habitat management of key sites allied with sympathetic management of sur- rounding areas, such as the continuation of tradi- tional agriculture and forestry practices. They also recommend that populations of target species are monitored and that research is conducted to identify appropriate habitat management techniques - with appropriate financial support. In contrast, Navarro & Pereira (2012) argue that ‘rewilding’ (defined as “the passive management of ecological succession with the goal of restoring natural ecosystem pro- cesses and reducing human control of landscapes”) of abandoned farmland should be considered as a possible land management option in Europe, partic- ularly on marginal areas. However, they also recog- nize that such passive forest regeneration will cause some species to decline in abundance while others would increase, i.e. there would be both ‘winner’ and ‘loser’ species. In the survey area considered here, the greatest Species Status in Triveneto region Comments re: area surveyed 1 Zerynthia polyxena Very local, EN, protected at EU level One individual photographed in 2012 Callophrys rubi LR but in decline Rare. Recorded once in 2012 and once in 2013 Libythea celtis Scarce, VU Good local populations Nymphalis antiopa DD/EN - population at lower altitudes EN One individual observed in 2013 Melitaea trivia VU, protected in FVG 2 Never common. Recorded twice in 2012 and once in 2013 Euphydryas aurinia NT, protected in FVG at EU level Reasonable population localized to parts of survey area Bren this hecate VU Very rare. Recorded twice in 2012 only Brintesia circe EN, threatened, very local Good local population Arethusana arethusa NT, protected in FVG Good local population Hipparchia fagi VU, locally common , EN in Alto Adige Good local population Hipparchia statilinus DD/LR, can be locally common A few individuals recorded in 2012 only Pyronia tithonus Very local distribution, VU/EN Found regularly, but never more than one or two individuals Coenonympha arcania ER/NT, common - populations in hill/ mountain areas of FVG less threatened Good local population Coenonympha oedippus VU, protected at EU level A few individuals recorded in 2012 only Pyrgus amoricanus NT, only local populations Recorded intermittently in 2013 only Table 6. Triveneto-level conservation status of protected, endangered, threatened and vulnerable butterfly species recorded in the survey area (from Paolucci, 2010). LR = Lower risk; NT = Near threatened; VU = Vulnerable; EN = Endangered; DD = Data deficient. 1 For additional details, refer to Tables 2, 3 and 4. 2 FVG = Friuli Venezia Giulia A multi-year survey of the butterflies (Lepidoptera Rhopalocera) of a defined area of the Triestine karst, Italy 71 threat to local butterfly populations and diversity of species remains the natural reforestation that is on- going since the decline of grazing in the area. Similar effects are occurring to local bird communities, with specialist grassland species such as the rock partridge Alectoris graeca (Meisner, 1804), grey partridge Perdix perdix (Linnaeus, 1758) and ortolan bunting ( Emberiza hortulana Linnaeus, 1758) having gone locally extinct, populations of skylark (Alcmda arvensis Linnaeus, 1758) and tawny pipit Anthus campestris (Linnaeus, 1758) under threat, and num- bers of com bunting ( Emberiza calandra Linnaeus, 1758), red-backed shrike ( Lanius collurio Linnaeus, 1758) and nightjar ( Caprimulgus europaeus Lin- naeus, 1758) much reduced. Concomitantly there have been increases in species frequenting scmb and woodland, such as the nightingale, blackcap, black- bird, chaffinch and melodious warbler (Parodi, 1999). However, exactly which type of management practices are most suited for maintaining both faunal and floral diversity in the area, is unknown. Based on research in Germany on a comparable grassland site with shallow soil in a warm, dry tem- perate climate, Romemiann et al. (2009) concluded that neither mowing nor various mulching regimes properly conserved the structure of wildflower pop- ulations developed over many years of grazing in species-rich semi-natural grasslands. However, they did recommend mulching twice per year, as this gen- erated the most similar floristic and functional plant community compared to the original grazing regime. In contrast, regarding the conservation of another endangered grassland-specialist insect species, Saga pedo (Pallas, 1771) (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae) that is also present in the survey area (Fontana & Cussigh, 1996; author’s observations), from their stu- dies in the Czech Republic, Holusa et al. (2013) re- commended either extensive rotational grazing or using scythes to cut grass in a traditional way to main- tain open areas of natural grassland. Alternatively, partial machine mowing (one-third to one-half of specific areas) each September could be considered. Unfortunately it is more than likely that the cur- rent situation of abandonment and neglect of once grazed and cultivated areas is likely to continue in the survey area for the foreseeable future. Similarly, Bonelli et al. (2010), discussing the conservation of C. oedippus populations across Italy, note that nat- ural reforestation is best prevented by developing suit- able, but costly, management plans, “which for the moment remain only on paper, in the best of cases.” The same is likely true for large parts of the Triestine karst, despite the undoubted conservation value for butterfly species, as reported here. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author gratefully acknowledges the as- sistance of Lucio Morin, a local butterfly expert, for help with the identification of a number of speci- mens and for providing valuable comments on the text. 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Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 73-78 First observations on the herpetological and theriological fauna of Alimia Island (Rhodes Archipelago, Aegean Sea) Mauro Grano 1 *, Cristina Cattaneo 2 & Augusto Cattaneo 3 'Via Valcenischia 24, 00141 Roma, Italy; e-mail: elaphe58@yahoo.it 2 Via Eleonora d’Arborea 12, 00162 Roma, Italy; e-mail: cristina.cattaneo76@libero.it 3 Via Cola di Rienzo 162, 00192 Roma, Italy; e-mail: augustocattaneo@hotmail.com 'Corresponding author ABSTRACT This note is a preliminary study on the herpetological and theriological fauna of Alimia Is- land (Rhodes Archipelago, Aegean Sea). Are described seven species of reptiles and three of micromammals. Is also provided a short botanical characterization of the island. KEY WORDS Alimia; Dodecanese; Aegean island; Rhodes. Received 02.02.2015; accepted 05.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 INTRODUCTION Currently there is no scientific literature regard- ing herpetological and theriological fauna of Al- imia Island (Rhodes Archipelago, Aegean Sea), and the following reported data are completely new. MATERIAL AND METHODS Alimia Island has been the subject of a partial survey in August 2014. Since this island is uninhab- ited, the authors stayed in the nearby island of Chalki. Due to the great difficulties in reaching Alimia, surveys were carried out only in two days, and, for the discontinuity and precariousness of the con- nections, the authors of this paper, in the study of theriological fauna, could not use live-traps (Sherman) and photo-traps. Therefore were carried out exclusively field research, by examining osteo- logical remains and inspecting glass bottles found in situ. Study area Alimia is a small island essentially calcareous, located in the Aegean Sea, north of Chalki and west of Rhodes and is one of the 1 63 islands that com- pose the Dodecanese Archipelago (Sokratis, 2006). It is part of Peripheral Unit of Rhodes and adminis- tratively belongs to the Municipality of Chalki. Its geographical coordinates are: longitude 27°42’24.11” E; latitude 36°16’26.26” N. The island has an area of 7.42 km 2 , a coastline of 2 1 km and a maximum height of 274 m above sea level (Fig. 1). Alimia is provided of two large creeks: Imborios and Agios Georgios. Just for the presence of these two natural harbors, in ancient times Alimia was called Eulimna (from Greek limen = harbor) (Blackman et al., 2014). The island is split in two unequal parts by a fail (Stefanini & Desio, 1928). In southern part a nar- row strip of land connects the peninsula of Tigani to the rest of the island (Rackham & Vemicos, 1991). Alimia lacks superficial hydrography; there’s only a small retrodunal pond of brackish water in 74 Mauro Grano etalii the bay of Agios Georgios (Fig. 2). Together with the surrounding small islands and Chalki, it’s in- cluded in the European Network “Natura 2000” as SPA, Special Protection Area, with GR42 10026 code. Moreover, with the Official Gazette 991 GG/B of 27 May 1999, Alimia was officially de- clared archaeological site of national interest for the presence of remains belonging to the Neolithic, such as the Paleochristian Basilica in the bay of Imborios and the Post-Byzantine church of Agios Georgios. The uncontaminated nature of the coasts is testified by the presence in this island of the now rare monk seal, Monachus monachus (Di Turo, 1984; Marchessaux & Duguy, 1977). Currently the island is uninhabited and is used by the inhabitants of Chalki, as in the past, for sheep and goats grazing (Iliadis, 1950). Regular connections either with Chalki or with Rhodes are not provided, indeed, Alimia knows only a sporadic tourism made by private boats. Botanical aspects. Alimia is characterized by wide low shrubs in which Juniperus phoenicea L. and Pistacia lentiscus L. are the most distinctive elements. These species have pulvinated aspect, especially near the coast. In places where shrubs becomes more thin and open, thrives a phiygana almost exclusively characterized by Thymbra cap- itata (L.) Cav., to which sometimes is associated Teucrium capitatum L. and more sporadically Salvia fruticosa Mill.; Origanum onites L. and Sarcopoterium spinosum (L.) Spach were infre- quently observed. The scarcity of the arboreal element is highlighted by the presence of scarce and localized clusters of Pinus brutia Ten. The steepest zones of Alimia have terraces once used for olive growing, now hardly visible as covered by the current vegetation. Iliadis (1950) informs that once this island was used not only as grazing land, but also for the production of fodder plants, grain, oil and figs (Cattaneo & Grano, in press). RESULTS REPTILIA Hemidactylus turcicus turcicus (Linnaeus, 1758) This gecko has a Mediterranean chorotype (Sindaco & Jeremcenko, 2008). Populations intro- duced by humans are also known for some states in United States and South America. Essentially nocturnal species, is often visible in trophic activity during evening hours. The few individuals ob- served at Alimia were found among the ruins of Ag. Georgios village, under wood planks in shaded sites with relative humidity. Due to the lack of elec- tricity in the island, the species could not be ob- served near light sources. Mediodactylus kotschyi (Steindachner, 1870) This species, until a short time ago known as Cyrtopodion kotschyi , has been recently subject of taxonomic review (Rosier, 2000). It has an E- Mediterranean chorotype (Sindaco & Jeremcenko, 2008). Are currently recognized 27 subspecies and in Chalki and Alimia should be present Mediodac- tylus kotschyi beutleri (Baran et Gruber, 1981). This subspecies is typical of southwest Turkey and eastern Aegean islands. However, the validity of such subspecies could be under discussion by modern molecular genetic studies (Kasapidis et al., 2005). This gecko carries out semidiurnal activities, choosing stony and arid habitats. It is usually found on soil and on dry-stones walls (Beutler, 1981). At Alimia Mediodactylus kotschyi was observed into Ag. Georgios village, on dry-stone walls used as enclosures for sheep and goats grazing. Stellagama stellio daani (Beutler et Fror, 1980) The chorotype of this reptile is Mediter- ranean/Arabian (Sindaco & Jeremcenko, 2008). The recent genus Stellagama is considered mono- specific and includes the only species S. stellio (Baig et al., 2012). Seven subspecies are currently acknowledged, two of which are present in Greece: S. stellio stellio (Linnaeus, 1758) and S. stellio daani. The first one has been found in five Cyclades islands (Delos, Mikro Rhematiaris, Mykonos, Rinia and Tinos) and in the Ionian islands of Corfu and Paxi (Spaneli & Lymberakis, 2014); the second one was found in other Cyclades islands (Paros, Naxos, Despotico e Antiparos), in most of the eastern Aegean islands and in Thessaloniki, in the north of mainland Greece (Spaneli & Lymberakis, 2014). In Alimia S. stellio daani (Fig. 3) was found relatively frequent. Adult and young specimens have been observed during activity and thermoregulation First observations on the herpetological and theriological fauna ofAlimia Island (Rhodes Archipelago, Aegean Sea) 75 Figure 1. Alimia Island, Rhodes Archipelago, Aegean Sea. between rocks and among the mins of Ag. Georgios village. Ablepharus kitaibelii kitaibelii (Bibron et Bory, 1833) A single specimen of this lizard, with a Balcanic and W- Anatolic chorotype (Sindaco & Jeremcenko, 2008), was observed near a dry-stone wall, close Ag. Georgios beach. Ablepharus kitaibelii appears to be a mainly hygrophilous species (Cattaneo, 1998), as generally lives on wet soil and in under- wood bedding of conifers forest (Broggi, 2002; Wilson & Grillitsch, 2009). However, both to Al- imia and to nearby Chalki island, A. kitaibelii has been found in extreme aridity. In Chalki indeed it has been very often observed on rocky and arid soil and also on stone walls inside Imborios village. In this latter case, however, the research by the above mentioned species of a degree of humidity inside the village is plausible. Anatololacerta oertzeni pelasgiana (Mertens, 1959) Anatololacerta oertzeni (Werner, 1904) is a lizard with a Mediterranean chorotype (Sindaco & Jeremcenko, 2008). It consists of six subspecies. At Rhodes and in the adjacent islands there’s the sub- species A. oertzeni pelasgiana (Fig. 4). Like most Mediterranean reptiles, this lizard is particularly active in springtime, while in summer exposes one- self less frequently. However the young, very typ- ical for the blue color of the tail (Fig. 5), are also Figure 2. Ag. Georgios village, Alimia Island. active in the summertime and in the hottest hours (Wilson & Grillitsch, 2009). Indeed, in Alimia the young specimens have been seen more frequently, especially observed up on the walls of the houses of Ag. Georgios village and on dry stone walls. On the contrary adults not exposed oneself to direct sunlight, but stayed inside abandoned houses in conditions of light and shadow. Ophisops elegans (Menetries, 1832) Small lizard with Mediterranean/Iranian choro- type (Sindaco & Jeremcenko, 2008). Eight sub- species are currently recognized including one for Greece: O. elegans macrodactylus (Berthold, 1842). Ophisops elegans (Fig. 6) resulted the most common reptile in Alimia, generally observed on soil and especially at the basis of juniper bushes. Dolichophis sp. Regarding snakes only a partial exuvia was found at the basis of a dry stone wall bordering the abandoned Ag. Georgios village. Stmctural and chromatic features of the specimen (dark scales with a light middle strip) assign it unequivocally to the genus Dolichophis Gistel, 1868. Even if was im- possible to make a more detailed meristic examina- tion of the specimen (being the exuvia incomplete), however, for exclusive biogeographic considera- tions, we can assume that the exuvia is attributable to D. jugularis and more precisely to D. jugularis zinneri Cattaneo, 2012. This subspecies is indeed present in Rhodes and in the islands of its ar- 76 Mauro Grano etalii chipelago, such as Chalki, Simi and Tilos (Cattaneo, 2012). Therefore the presence of D.jugularis zinneri also at Alimia could be argued with good probability. MAMMALIA Rattus sp. hi the immediate surroundings of the big boulders which form the basis of Kastro (180 m s.l.m.) have been found two long bones of Rattus sp.: a femur and a tibia. The failure to find other osteological remains didn’t allow the distinction between Rattus rattus Linnaeus, 1758 and R. norvegicus Berkenhout, 1769. Both species live in Rhodes and R. rattus is present also in the nearby islands of Chalki (Massed, 2012). In the Dodecanese area is reported the presence of R. norvegicus for Kos and R. rattus for Tilos, Karpathos, Kos and Astypalaia (Angelici et al., 1992; Masseti & Sara, 2002). Mus musculus Schwarz et Schwarz, 1943 Mus musculus commonly called house mouse, is an anthropocore and highly invasive regarded species. This species native of Asia, is present in all continents, except Antarctica (Masseti, 2012). Figures 3-6. Reptiles from Alimia Island. Figure 3. Stellagama stellio daani. Figure 4. Anatololacerta oertzeni pelasgiana (adult). Figure 5. A. oertzeni pelasgiana (young). Figure 6. Ophisops elegans. First observations on the herpetological and theriological fauna ofAlimia Island (Rhodes Archipelago, Aegean Sea) 77 Mus musculus is included in the list, compiled by IUCN, of 100 world’s worst invasive alien species (Lowe et al., 2000). This small rodent can live in very diversified habitat due to the presence of human’s commensals populations so-called “indoor” and wild populations called “outdoor” (Amori et al., 2008). The osteological remains related to this species, which consist of the skull, a hemimandible, a scapula, some vertebrae and some ribs, were found inside a dark glass bottle of beer among the ruins of the Ag. Georgios village. Some peculiar features, such as the presence of the notch on the external side of the upper incisors, the presence of only two rows of tubercles on the molars of the hemimandible and of a single root in the upper molar and, moreover, the dimension of various finds, the appearance and the reduced sizes of the braincase, have allowed the attribution of these finds to the species M. musculus (Toschi, 1965; Amori et al., 2008). Suncus etruscus Savi, 1822 Suncus etruscus is the smallest living terrestrial mammal, characterized by a weight of about 2 g and by a length which rarely reaches to 5 cm (ex- cluding tail). It is a typical species of Mediterranean bio-climatic zones, where it lives in environments characterized by dry stone walls and rocks (Amori et al., 2008), situation which moreover has also been found at Alimia. The distribution range of this species includes countries of the Mediterranean basin and extends to Pakistan and India. In the African continent reaches Natal and Tanzania. Has been found a single find of this small mammal, a hemimandible, in the same bottle where the remains relating to Mus musculus were found. The shape and size of hemimandible and the height mandibu- lar coronoid, less than 3.2 mm, were the distinctive features for the attribution to the species S. etruscus (Amori et al., 2008). CONCLUSIONS As already noted, due to difficulties in reaching Alimia, the survey on the island may not have been capillary. It seems that because the arid nature and lack of active watercourses of this island, Amphi- bians are totally absent. A comparable situation is also in the nearby island of Chalki, which has very similar environmental features (Buttle, 1995; Cat- taneo, 2009). All specimens of various species of reptiles were found in Ag. Georgios bay, among the ruins of the abandoned village. Some specimens of S. stellio and A. oertzeni have also been observed in close proximity of a group of military buildings abandoned in the peninsula of Tigani. The herpeto- fauna of Alimia has proved to be interesting anyway and, considering the small size of the island, sub- stantially consistent. The species that hosts are clearly of Rhodian matrix; includes two taxa more than the nearby and much bigger (about six times) island of Chalki (A. oertzeni and Ophisops elegans ) (Buttle, 1995; Cattaneo, 2007, 2009), but the latter is more distant from Rhodes. The coexistence of seven species of reptiles in this small island, dry and without human presence, represents a perfect model of sympatry and of optimal utilization of resources. It is also worth noting that the dense interactive network of the island (to whom contribute four species of lizard and at least three of micromammals) could also allow the survival to a second ophidic species. In this regard is worth remembering that Boettger (1888) reported the news, provided by von Oertzen, about the possibility of the existence of Montivipera xanthina in Chalki. Researches carried by us and by others (Joger & Nilson, 2005) have ruled out this possibility, but fact remains that the indication of von Oertzen could refer to another nearby island (in this instance Alimia), assimilated to Chalki or confused with this, following a lapsus linguae. Besides the authority and reliability of the German author don’t put doubts about the authen- ticity of the news. So that’s why is desirable in the future that researches are carried out in this direc- tion, in order to clarify the enigma. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors wish to thank Flavio Rocchi and Giuliano Milana for helping in the determination of the finds related to micromammals. REFERENCES Angelici F.M., Pinchera F. & Riga F., 1992. 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This is the first record of the species from the Mediterranean Sea. KEY WORDS Mediterranean Sea; new records; Pendromidae; Rligulina fragilis ; Tuscan Archipelago. Received 02.02.2015; accepted 05.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 INTRODUCTION Pendromidae Waren, 1991 is a small family of vetigastropods whose systematic position is not yet well understood (Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.P., 2005). It includes two genera, Pendwma Dali, 1927 and Rugulina Palazzi, 1 988. The latter comprises few species (Gofas, 2014), only two of them belong to the European fauna: Rugulina fragilis (Sars G.O., 1 87 8) and R. UlOUteWSatoi (van Aartsen & Bogi, 1987). Their troubled nom enclatural and taxonomic histories are well documented by Waren (1991). Only R. monterosatoi has previously been found in the Mediterranean Sea. MATERIAL AND METHODS All material was picked up from bottom samples trawled by local fishermen. Shells were studies with a stereomicroscope. Photos were taken with a di- gital photocamera. The protoconch whorls are counted according to the method of Verduin (1977). ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS. Dp: total diameter of the pro to conch (in pm); H: max- imum height (in mm); Nwp: number of whorls of the protoconch; Nwt: number of whorls of the teleoconch; W: maximum width (in mm); APC: Attilio Pagli collection (Lari, Italy); CBC: Cesare Bogi collection (Leghorn, Italy); CSC: Carlo Sbrana collection (Leghorn, Italy); LCC: Lrancesco Chiriaco collection (Leghorn, Italy); LGC: Lrancesco Giusti collection (Leghorn, Italy); RRC: Romualdo Rocchini collection (Pistoia, Italy). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Taxonomy Class Gastropoda Cuvier, 1795 Subclass Vetigastropoda S alvini-Plaw en , 1980 Lamily Pendromidae Waren, 1991 G enus Rugulina P alazzi, 198 8 80 Francesco Giusti et alii Rugulina fragilis (Sars G .0 1878) (Figs. 1-3,5) Adeorbis fragilis G.O. Sars, 1878: 2 1 3, tab. 22, figs. 1 9a-c (Fig . 4) Rugulina fragilis-. Waren, 1991: 71—73, figs 11A-E, 1 3 A , B Rugulina fragilis-. Beck et al., 2006: 47 Rugulina fragilis-. Hoffman et al., 2010: 49, figs. 1-3 Original description. " Testa tenuis et fragilis, albida, leviter rufescens, exacte trochiformis, spira elevata, anfractibus 4 convexis, ultimo permagno et amplo basi leviter applanata, sutura profunda, apertura patula, oblique expansa, forma ovato- elliptica, labro externo tenuissimo, obliquo, columella cequaliter incurvata, umbilico magno et projundo crista nulla a basi difinito. Superficies vix nitida, lineis spiralibus, elevatis, regularibus obducta. Diam. basis 2,0 mm; altit. 1,7 mm." [The shell is thin and fragile, whitish, slightly reddish, perfectly trochiform, with elevated spire, 4 convex whorls, the last is large and wide with the base slightly flattened, suture deep, aperture wide, obliquely expanded, ovate-elliptic, the external lip is very thin, oblique, the columella is regularly curved, the umbilicus is large and deep, there is no keel on the base. Surface barely shining, regularly covered with raised spiral lines. Diameter at the base 2.0 mm; height 1.7 mm.] Examined material. Rugulina fragilis : off Capo Corso (Corsica, France) 600 m, 2 shells in CSC, 6 shells in FG C , 1 shell in A PC . Rugulina cf . fragilis-. off Capo Corso (Corsica, France) 600 m, l shell in csc. Rugulina monterosatoi-. off Gorgona Island (Feghorn, Italy) 400 m, 4 shells in RRC, 1 shell in CSC, 1 shell in FCC; 3 shells off Gorgona Island (Feghorn, Italy) 300 m, in APC; 13 shells, Alboran Sea (Spain) 160 m, in CBC; 4 shells off Giglio Island (Grosseto, Italy) 400 m, in CBC; 4 shells off Capraia Island (Feghorn, Italy) 500 m , in FG C . Description of the examined shells. Small, thin and fragile, broadly conical (height: 1.00-1.65 mm;width: 1.15-2.05 m m ), w hitish and semitrans- parent. Protoconch (0.5-0. 6 whorls; diameter about 185 pm) protruding, paucispiral, smooth, tilted, border with the teleoconch clear. Teleoconch whorls (2. 2-2. 6) convex, fairly expanding, suture deep. Aperture broad, ovate, prosocline (seen laterally). Outer lip sharp. Columella curved, simple. Base quite flattened. Umbilicus wide. Sculpture of subtle spiral threads (9-14 on the last whorl), more close- set in the periumbilical zone. Shell surface further ornamented with a somewhat net-shaped micros- culpture of irregular discontinuous lines. Remarks. The mediterranean shells match R. fragilis in all respects. The only similar species is the cogeneric R. monterosatoi, which is constantly smaller (maximum W : 0.85 mm; maximum H: 0.80 mm). Its spiral sculpture has only 2 strong perium- bilical cords forming a sort of keel and 1 adapical thread. The protoconch are comparable in size (Dp: about 185 pm) (Aartsen van & Bogi, 1987; Waren, 1991; pers. obs.) (Figs. 7-9). Comparing similar- sized shells of R. fragilis and R. monterosatoi, the latter has a more globular outline, a more depressed spire, less expanded whorls, the outline of the last whorl appears more squarish due to the spiral sculpture, the umbilicus is smaller, and the proto- conch less tilted (Figs. 5-6). Note that the shell in fig. 6 is gerontic, being larger for the species and having the last whorl slightly loose. It is neverthe- less clearly different from R. fragilis. A shell sim ilar to R. fragilis (Figs. 1 0- 1 3) w as found in the same bottom sample (H: 1.20 mm; W: 1.40 mm; Nwt: 1.7). It differs from the latter in having a less conical outline, a stronger micros- cultpure, a protoconch not tilted, larger in dia- meter (Nwp: 0.6; Dp: about 270 pm). Being an unique specimen, we prefer to leave its status open . Rugulina fragilis is previously known from the Northern Atlantic Ocean, ranging from E Greenland to Norway (Waren, 1991; Hoffman et al., 2010), and the Seine seamount, off the morroccan coasts (Beck et al., 2006). This is the first record from the Mediterranean Sea. Although no living specimens were found, the shells are in good conditions. Rugulina fragilis should be added to the recent mediterranean malacofauna. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors are grateful to Cesare Bogi (Feghorn, Italy), Romina Rocchini (Pistoia, Italy), Attilio Pagli (Fari, Italy), Alessandro Raveggi (Florence, Italy), Francesco Chiriaco (Feghorn, Italy), Stefano Bartolini (Florence, Italy) for the First record of Rugulina fragilis from the Mediterranean Sea (Mollusca Gastropoda Pendromidae) 81 Figures 1-3: Rugulina fragilis , off Capo Corso, 600 m, 1.90 mm x 1.50 mm; Fig. 1: frontal view; Fig. 2: apical view; Fig. 3: basal view. Fig. 4: AdeOfbis fragilis (from Sars, 1878, pi. 22, figs. 19a, modified). Fig. 5: R. fragilis, off Capo Corso, 600 m, 1.15 mm x 1.00 mm. Fig. 6: R. lllOllteWSatoi, off Giglio Island, 400 m, 1.00 mm x 1.00 mm. Figs. 7-9: R. monte WSatoi, off Gorgona Island, 400 m, 0.77 mm x 0.77 mm; Fig. 7: frontal view; Fig. 8: apical view; Fig. 9: pro to conch. Figs. 10 - 13 : R. c f. fragilis , same locality as Figs. 1 - 3 , 1.40 mm x 1.20 mm; Fig. 10: fro n tal view; Fig. 11: apical view; Fig. 12: pro to conch; Fig. 13: details of the sculpture. 82 Francesco Giusti et alii loan of material. Sincere thanks are due to Cesare Bogi for useful advices, to Stefano Bartolini for di- gital photographs and to Enzo Campani (Leghorn, Italy) for reading the manuscript. Thanks to Patrick LaFollette (Cathedral City, U.S.A.) for editing the English manuscript. REFERENCES Aartsen van J. J. & BogiC., 19 87 . Dcironici mOTlteroSCltoi a new Mediterranean gastropoda. Bollettino Malaco- logico, 22: 27 3-27 6 . Beck T., Metzger T. & Freiwald A., 2006. Biodiversity inventorial atlas of macrobenthic seamount animals. Eu-ESF project OASIS, 126 pp. Oceanic seamounts: an integrated study; E V K 2 -C T-2 00 2 -00 0 7 3 , http:// wwwl.uni-hamburg.de/OASIS /Pages /publications/ BIAS.pdf. Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.P., 2005. Classification and nomen- clator of gastropod fam dies. M alacologia, 47: 1-397. Gofas S., 2014. RllgulinCl Palazzi, 1988. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http ://w w w.m arinespecies.org/aphia. php?p = taxdetails& id= 1 3 8 326 on 2014-12-10 Hoffman L.,Van Heugten B. & Lavaleye M.S.S., 2010. Skeneimorph species (Gastropoda) from the Rockall and Hatton Banks, northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Miscellanea M alacologica, 4: 47-61. Sars G. O ., 1 878. Bidrag til kundskaben om Norges arktiske fauna: 1. Mollusca regionis Arcticae Norve- giae. Oversigt over de i Norges arktiske region forekommende bloddyr. Christiania, A .W . Brpgger XV + 466 pp., 34 pis. Verduin A., 1977. On a remarkable dimorphism of the apices in many groups of sympatric, closely related m arin e g as tropod species. Baste ria, 41: 91-95. Waren A., 1991. New and little known Mollusca from Iceland and Scandinavia. Sarsia, 76: 53-124. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 83-86 Colinatys Ortea, Moro et Espinosa, 20 1 3 from Eastern Medi- terranean Sea (Opisthobranchia Haminoeidae) Luigi Romani 1 *, Stefano Bartolini 2 & Alessandro Raveggi 3 'Via delle ville 7 9, 55013 Lammari, Lucca, Italy; e-mail: luigir omani78@gmail.com 2 V ia Ermete Zacconi 16, 50137 Flo re nee, Italy; e-mail: stefmaria.bartolini@alice.it 3 V ia Benedetto Varchi 67, 50132 Florence, Italy, e-mail: sandro. firenze@ libero.it Corresponding author ABSTRACT Two shells of the genus ColillCltyS Ortea, Moro et Espinosa, 2013 (Opistobranchia Hami- noeidae), similar to ColillCltyS Cllciyoi (Espinosa et Ortea, 2004), type species of the genus, are reported from Larnaca, Cyprus. The presence of the species in the Mediterranean Sea is discussed. KEY WORDS Colinatys ■ H am inoeidae; new records; Mediterranean Sea. Received 02.02.201 5; accepted 05.03.20 1 5; printed 30.03.20 1 5 Colinatys sp. Examined material. 2 shells from Larnaca, Cy- prus, depth 43 m, May, 2011, picked from bioclast ic bottom samples collected by SCUBA near wreck of ferry MS Zenobia, 34°53'52"N 33°39'25"E. Spe- cimen 1 , H = 1.35 mm,W = 0.85 mm. (Figs. 1-4), in Alessandro Raveggi collection; specimen 2, H = 1.60 mm,W = 1.20 (Figs. 1-6), in Stefano B artolini co llec tio n . Description. Shell small, translucent, colorless, involutely coiled, subey lindrical-py riform , trun- cated, periphery below center of the smoothly roun- ded body whorl.Aperture longer than spire, narrow posteriorly, widening anteriorly. Umbilicus narrow, partially obscured by the slightly flared columellar lip. Spire concave, nearly covered by final whorl, leaving a narrow opening through which the proto- conch can be seen. Outer lip sharp, straight to slightly concave above periphery, convex below. Sculpture of weakly encised, whitish spiral bands of irregular widths, interrupted by stronger closely packed orthocline axial growth lines, dividing the bands into of rows of squared to elongated pits. Within the apical depression only axial sculpture is evident. The shell surface has a wrinkled, weakly reticulated appearance. The whitish appearing spiral bands are visible within the aperture through the translucent shell (Figs. 1-6). DISCUSSION No European O pisthobranchs nor alien indo- pacific species recorded from Cyprus (Ozturk et al., 2004; Tsiakkiros & Zenetos, 2011) have similar shells. Considering that many alien marine organisms have settled in the Eastern Mediterranean during recent years (Zenetos et al., 2010), an extensive bibliographic survey was carried out of shelled opisthobranchs of the Indo-Pacific and neighboring areas but was unsuccessful in finding similar species (Issel, 1 869; Hedley, 1 899a-c; Habe, 1964; 84 Luigi Romani et alii Maes, 1967; Keen, 1971; Kay, 1979; Powell, 1979; Kilburn & Rippey, 1 982; Sharabati, 1984; Lin & Qi, 1 985; Springsteen & Leobrera, 1 986; Kay & S choenberg-D ole, 1991; Higo et al., 1 999, 200 1; Jansen, 2000; Okutani, 2000; Hasegawa, 2001, 2005; Hasegawa et al., 2001a-b; Qi, 2004; Dharma, 20 0 5; Thach, 2005; Poppe, 2008; Sasaki, 2008; Valdes, 2 0 08; Yonow, 20 0 8, 2012; Zenetos et al., 2010 ). Surprisingly, we found that our shell most closely resem ble ColiflCltyS Cllciyoi (Espinosa et O rtea, 2004) (Figs. 7-11), known from Cuba, Florida and Bahamas (Espinosa & Ortea, 2004; Ortea et al., 2013; Red fern, 2013). The genus ColinatyS Ortea, Moro et Espinosa, 2013 was erected for this species on anatomical grounds, which was originally as- signed to AtyS Montfort, 18 10, then transferred to RetUSCl T. Brown, 1827 (Valdes et al., 2006; Rosen- berg et al., 2009). No other species have been assigned to the genus. Figures 1-6. Colincitys sp.,Larnaca (Cyprus).Figs. 1-4: 1.35 m m , Fig s. 5 , 6 : 1.60 mm; Figs. 7-11. Colincitys aluyoi (E spino sa et Or tea, 2004), Bahamas, Figs. 7, 8: 1.50 mm, Figs. 9, 10: 1.00 mm. Figs. 11: 2.00 mm (from Redfern, 2013, modified). Colinatys Ortea,Moro et Espinosa, 2013 from Eastern Mediterranean Sea (Opisthobranchia Haminoeidae) 85 Our shells match agree with the conchological characters of Colinatys, but we prefer not to assign them to alayoi as doubts on conspecificity remain due to differencens of the shell colour pattern (C. Cllayoi has a more marked “checkerboard” pattern), absence of anatomical information and very long distance from typical range. Additional material, particularly live collected specimens for anatomical comparison, are needed to establish the presence of an established population and to clarify its status and relationships. Whether the present species is Mediterranean, Lessepsian, or of other origin is unknown, so we prefer to consider Colinatys sp. a cryptogenic species (Carlton, 1996). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thanks Maria Scaperrotta (Florence, Italy) who sorted the sediment samples and A ttilio Pagli (Lari, Italy) for his help in searching for biblio- graphical sources. We are grateful to Leopoldo Moro (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain), Jesus Ortea (Oviedo, Spain) and Enzo Campani (Leghorn, Italy) for useful suggestions, Thanasis Manousis (Epanomi, Greece), John Varnava (Dhekelia, Cyprus), Costantinos Kontadakis (Athens, Greece) for providing information. We are endebted to Patrick I LaFollette (Cathedral City, U.S.A.) for the critical reading and the english revision of the manuscript. Colin Redfern (Boca Raton, U.S.A.) kindly has given permission to use the photos of Colinatys alayoi. REFERENCES Carlton J.T, 1996. Biological invasions and cryptogenic species. Ecology, 77: 1 653- 1 655. Dharma B., 2005. Recent & fossil Indonesian shells. H ackenheim , Ge rm any: ConchB ooks, 424 pp. Espinosa J. & Or tea J., 2004. Nuevas e species de molus- cos gasteropodos m a r in os (M oil u sea: Gastropoda) de las Bahamas, Cuba y el Mar Caribe de Costa Rica. Revista de la Academia Canaria de Ciencias, 15: 207-2 16. Habe T., 1964. Shells of the W ester n Pacific in color. Vol. II. Osaka, Hoikusha. 23 3 pp. Hasegawa K., 2001. Deep-Sea Gastropods ofTosa Bay, Japan, Collected by the R/V Kotaka-M aru and Tansei-M aru during the Years 1 997-2000. National Science Museum monographs, 20: 121-165. Hasegawa K., 2005. A Preliminary List of Deep-Sea Gastropods Collected from the Nansei Islands, Southwestern Japan. National Science Museum monographs, 29: 137-190. Hasegawa K ., Hori S. & Ueshima R., 2001 a. A Prelim- inary List of Sublittoral Shell-bearing Gastropods in the Vicinity of Shimoda, Izu Peninsula, Central Honshu, Japan. Memoirs of the National Science Museum, 37: 203-228. Hasegawa K ., Saito H ., Kubodera T. & Xu F., 200 1b. Marine Molluscs Collected from the Shallow Waters of Hainan Island, South China Sea, by China-Japan Joint Research in 1 997. National Science Museum monographs, 21: 1-44. Hedley C., 1899a. The Mollusca of Funafuti. Part I. Australian Museum Memoir, 3: 395-488. Hedley C., 1899b. The Mollusca of Funafuti, Part II. Australian Museum Memoir, 3: 489-510. Hedley C., 1899c. The Mollusca of Funafuti (supple- ment). Australian Museum Memoir, 3: 547-570. Higo S., Callomon P. & Goto Y., 1 999. Catalogue and bibliography of the marine shell-bearing Mollusca of Japan. Elle Scientific Publications Osaka, 749 pp. Higo S ., Callomon P. & Goto Y., 2001. Catalogue and Bibliography of the Marine Shell-Bearing Mollusca of Japan. Gastropoda Bivalvia Polyplacophora Scaphopoda Type Figures. Elle Scientific Publica- tions, Yao, Japan, 208 pp. IsselA., 1869. Malacologia del Mar Rosso. Biblioteca Malacologica, Pisa, 387 pp., 5 pis. Jansen P., 2000. Seashells of south-east Australia. Capricornia Publications, Lindfield, NSW, 118 pp. Kay A.E., 1979. Hawaiian M a line Shells. Reef and Shore Fauna of Hawaii, Section 4: Mollusca. Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum Special P u blic atio n.64: 653 pp. Kay A.E. & Schoenberg-Dole O., 1991. Shells of Hawaii. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 87 pp. Keen A.M., 1971. Sea Shells ofTropical West America: Marine Mollusks From Baja California to Peru. Second edition. Stanford University Press: Stanford, C A . xiv + 1 064 pp . Kilburn R.N. & Rippey E., 1982. Seashells of Southern Africa. MacMillan, Johannesburg, i-xi. 1-249 pp. Lin G. & Qi Z . , 1985. A preliminary survey of the Cephalaspidea (Opisthobranchia) of Hong Kong and adjacent waters. In: M orton B . & Dudgeon D . (Eds.). 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Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 87-94 Reports of Haliotis Linnaeus, 1 758 (Mollusca Vetigastropoda) from the Middle Miocene of Ukraine Maurizio Forli 1 *, Alexander Stalennuy 2 & Bruno Dell’Angelo 3 'Via Grocco 16, 59100 Prato, Italy; e-mail: info@dodoline.eu 2 Bandem 90/4, 46011 Ternopil, Ukraine; e-mail: stalenmiy@rambler.ra 3 Via Santelia 55, 16153 Genoa, Italy; e-mail: brano.dellangelo@chitons.it ’Corresponding author ABSTRACT Two species of Haliotidae are described and illustrated from the Maksymivka quarry near Ternopil (Ukraine), a site characterized by its peculiar Middle Miocene (Badenian) coralgal facies. The first species, Haliotis volhynica Eichwald, 1829, has a wide geographical distribution that extends from the Paratethys of Central Europe to the Ukraine, and is quite common in the Maksymivka site. Another different species of Haliotis Linnaeus, 1758 was recently found at Maksymivka, only two specimens in several years of research. This species was already reported by Krach (1981) from Poland as Haliotis tuberculata tauro- planata Sacco, 1897, a species from the Burdigalian of Piedmont that differs from the Maksymivka species by several characters. We leave this rare species indeterminate at specific level because of the scarcity of material known to date. KEY WORDS Gastropoda; Haliotidae; Haliotis', Miocene; Ukraine. Received 02.02.2015; accepted 05.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 INTRODUCTION Haliotidae Rafinesque, 1815 is a family of marine gastropods consisting of 56 living species and at least 35 fossil ones (Geiger & Groves, 1999; Geiger, 2000). The genus Haliotis Linnaeus, 1758 is the only one for the family and is known from Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) (Sohl, 1992) to Recent. Strausz (1966) and Geiger & Groves (1999) proposed to refer all the 11 fossil European taxa known at that time (Haliotis anomiaeformis Sacco, 1896; H. benoisti Cossmann, 1895; H. lamellosa Lamarck, 1822; H. lamellosoides Sacco, 1896; H. monilifera Bonelli, 1827; H. neuvillei Bial de Bell, 1909; H ovata Bonelli, 1827; H tauroplanata Sacco, 1897; H. torrei Ruggieri, 1989; H. tuberculata Linnaeus, 1758; H. volhynica Eichwald, 1829) to H. tuberculata volhynica , because the Recent species (H. tuberculata tuber- culata) with its Atlantic and Mediterranean popu- lations is known to be extremely plastic in its shell morphology, and most material of European fossil specimens fall within the range of variation within the Recent species. Aim of the present work is to illustrate some specimens of Haliotis recently found at the Mak- symivka quarry (Ukraine) from the Middle Miocene (Badenian). A revision of the fossil cited species of Haliotis is needed to define the status of the described taxa. The reports of Haliotis from the Miocene of Ukraine are scarce, relating to H. volhynica or H. tuberculata volhynica (Zelinskaya et al., 1968; Krach, 1981) and H. tuberculata tauro- planata (Krach, 1981). 88 Maurizio Forli et alii MATERIAL AND METHODS The Maksymivka quarry near Ternopil (Ukraine) (Fig. 1) is well known in literature for its peculiar Middle Miocene (Badenian) coralgal facies and its fauna (Radwanski et al., 2006; Studencka & Jasionowski, 2011; Gorka et al., 2012). It embraces an area of several square kilometers over a distance of about one kilometer (Radwanski et al., 2006: fig. 3). The reef exposed in this quarry is a member of the unique reef structure (almost 300 km long) formed within the Paratethyan realm, and distribu- ted widely in the north-eastern and eastern borders of the Carpathian Foredeep Basin in Western Ukraine, Moldova and north-east Romania (Gorka et al., 2012: fig. 1). The coralgal facies at Mak- symivka is characterized by a complex structure: particular coralgal buildups of variable size (from centimetres of rodolith forms, to several metres thick), composed of red-algal (lithothamnian) colonies associated locally with sparse hermatypic corals. A survey of all these peculiar features/com- ponents is well reported by Radwanski et al., 2006. Other organisms associated with reefs are represen- ted by mollusks (bivalves and gastropods), crabs, foraminifera, annelids, bryozoans and echinoderms. Almost all of the organisms of originally aragonitic shells were dissolved as a result of post sedimentary diagenesis and are now preserved in the form of moulds and/or imprints (see Gorka et al., 2012: fig. 7A for a massive coralline-algae boundstone with embedded Haliotis shells). The shells were collected manually inside the reef structure, paying particular attention to prevent breakage, and after were cleaned and measured (Table 1). The measurements are in millimeters (mm) and in degrees for the angle. About the references we considered only those works where species have been not only recorded, but also figured. ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS. AS: Alexander Stalennuy collection, Temopil, Ukraine; BD: Bruno Dell’Angelo collection, Genoa, Italy; BS: Bellardi and Sacco collection, Museo di Geo- logia e Paleontologia, University of Turin (now stored at the Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali BELARUS UKRAINE Matj|ymivka/Temopirs'ka oblSs^craina^ Maksymivka RUSSIA 49'36’1 3.49"N 25'54'32.70"E elev 364 m Alt 3.48 km Figure 1. Maksymivka quarry near Ternopil (Ukraine), from Google earth. Reports of Haliotis Linnaeus, 1 758 (Mollusca Vetigastropoda) from the Middle Miocene of Ukraine 89 of Turin), Italy; MF: Maurizio Forli collection, Prato, Italy; MZB: Museo di Zoologia, University of Bologna, Italy; L: length; W: width; H: max- imum height of the shell, measured from the base to the top of the spire; a: angle of inclination of the ini- tial part of the spire; LAV: ratio between L and W. SYSTEMATICS Classis GASTROPODA Cuvier, 1795 Ordo VETIGASTROPODA Salvini-Plawen et Haszprunar, 1987 Familia HALIOTIDAE Rafmesque, 1815 Genus Haliotis Linnaeus, 1758 Type species: Haliotis asinina Linnaeus, 1758 Haliotis volhynica Eichwald, 1829 Figs. 2-14 1829. Haliotis volhynica Eichwald: 294, pi. 5, fig. 18. 1856. Haliotis volhynica Eichw. - Hornes: 510, pi. 46, fig. 26 1928. Haliotis volhynica Eichw. - Friedberg: 530, pi. 34, figs. 8, 9 1937. Haliotis volhynica Eichwald - Davidaschvili: 540, pi. 1, fig. 5 1954. Haliotis tuberculata lamellosoides Sacco - Csepreghy-Meznerics: 10, pi. 1, fig. 24 1955. Haliotis (Haliotis) volhynica Eichw. - Korob- kov: pi. 2, fig. 3 1960. Haliotis (Haliotis) tuberculata var. lamel- losoides Sacco - Kojumdgieva & Strachimirov: 84, pi. 28, fig. 9 1966. Haliotis tuberculata volhynica Eichwald- Strausz: 26, fig. 16c 1967. Haliotis volhynica Eichw. - Bielecka: 132, pi. 8, figs. 3, 4 (fide Bahik, 1975). 1968. Haliotis volhynica Eichwald - Zelinskaya et al.: 95, pi. 27, fig. 1 1979. Haliotis (Sulculus) volhynica Eichwald - Jakubowski & Musial: 61, pi. 5, fig. 5 1981. Haliotis tuberculata Eichwald - Krach: 39, pi. 11, figs. 1-3 2012. Haliotis tuberculata Linnaeus - Gorka et al.: 163, figs. 7a, 15a, b Table 1 . Measurements of the examined specimens and their repository. See in Abbreviations and Acronyms. 90 Maurizio Forli et alii Figures 2-14. Haliotis volhynica Eichwald, 1829 from the Middle Miocene (Badenian) of Maksymivka quarry (Ukraine). Figures 2-4: specimen 4 from Table 1. Figure 5: specimen 10 from Table 1. Figures 6, 7: specimen 1 1 from Table 1. Figures 8-10: specimen 6 from Table 1. Figures 11-14: specimen 1 from Table 1. Reports of Haliotis Linnaeus, 1 758 (Mollusca Vetigastropoda) from the Middle Miocene of Ukraine 91 Figures 15-18. Haliotis sp. from the Middle Miocene (Badenian) ofMaksymivka quarry (Ukraine). Fig. 15: specimen 1 from Table 1. Figures 16-18: specimen 2 from Table 1. Figures 19-22. Haliotis tuberculata tauroplanata Sacco, 1897, Early Miocene (Burdigalian) of Torino hills (Piedmont, Italy), BS. 082.01.004. 92 Maurizio Forli et alii Examined Material. Maksymivka: 15 specimens (MF, BD, MZB) (Table 1). Description. Shell of medium size (L max about 70 mm), widened-oval, spire slightly raised, tilted about thirty degrees relative to the plane formed by the edge of the shell (a). Apex positioned on the left, moved to the center, about a third of the spiral width corresponding to that point. Regularly con- vex outer surface, with ornamentation spiral consti- tuted by main cords detected, which develop at the beginning almost intermittently and then, becoming evident and irregularly wavy both in the sense of the spire and in height, form knobs scattered or aligned in radial folds more or less signed. The spiral cords are separated by evident furrows, sometimes side by side, giving rise to spiral cords of smaller width of the main, intersecting with growth striae more or less marked, form small imbricated lamellae, arranged irregularly. Openings with marginal conical-tubular protrusions pro- nounced, regularly spaced from each other by spaces almost equal to that of the size of the base of the next opening, which maintain the propor- tions, as the size of the shell, of which the last four open. Outer lip, from the edge of the keel formed by the openings up to the basal cords more pronounced, tilted and slightly concave. Columellar callus flattened with weak concavity. Distribution. Haliotis volhynica Eichwald, 1829 is a species with a wide geographical distribution that extends from the Paratethys of Central Europe (Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland) to the Ukraine, with chronostratigraphic distribution lim- ited to the Middle Miocene. It is particularly abund- ant in organogenic limestones of Ukraine related to sediments deposited at depths corresponding to the infralitoral. Remarks. The morphological characteristics of H. volhynica , at least of the specimens we examined and compared to those from the literature, are fairly constant, in particular the position of the apex and the spiral evolution, which is more rounded and closed with respect to that of Haliotis sp., as well as the ornamentation consisting of marked and tubercolate spiral cords (Csepreghy-Meznerics, 1954; Zelinskaya et al., 1968; Krach, 1981; Gorka et al., 2012). Even by the drawings can be found the same morphological characters that seem peculiar to H. volhynica , such as in Strausz (1966) or in Friedberg (1928) by the shape of the internal moulds of the shell. Specimens found at Maksymivka are well char- acterized and show a small degree of variability, and are different from the Recent species H. tuber- culata tuberculata L., 1758 with its Atlantic and Mediterranean populations, contrary to what previously expressed by many authors about H. volhynica, considered as a subspecies H. tubercu- lata volhynica (Strausz, 1966; Geiger & Groves, 1999) or directly as H. tuberculata (Gorka et al., 2012). Agreeing to Landau et al. (2003) we consider H. volhynica a separable species from the Recent H. tuberculata. Haliotis sp. Figs. 15-18 1981. Haliotis tuberculata tauroplanata [non Sacco, 1897] - Krach: 40, pi. 11, figs. 4-7. Examined Material. Maksymivka: 2 specimens (AS, MF) (Table 1). Description. Shell of small size, elongate-oval, with width about half the length. Spire little high with apex positioned a little more to the left than H. volhynica, about a quarter of the spiral width cor- responding to that point. Regularly convex surface of the shell, with spiral ornamentation of the first two whorls consisting of 4-5 slender main cords spaced between them, which then become about ten or so, just signed, sometimes forming very small knobs, which disappear as increasing the spiral size, leaving the remaining surface of the shell, smooth or with sparse spiral cords just signed. Openings, of which the last four open, with marginal conical- tubular protrusions less raised. Outer lip, from under the keel of the openings to the edge columel- lar, with slightly convex profile. It was not possible to examine the internal part because it is filled with cemented limestone. Distribution. Paratethys, Middle Miocene (Bad- enian): Poland, Weglinek (Krach, 1981); Ukraine, Maksymivka (this work). Remarks. Only two specimens of a second species of Haliotis were recently found at Maksymivka, and this despite the numerous samples taken in recent years by one of the authors (AS). This second Reports of Haliotis Linnaeus, 1 758 (Mollusca Vetigastropoda) from the Middle Miocene of Ukraine 93 species may therefore be considered quite rare, unlike H. volhynica which instead is found quite commonly, although it is hard to find complete and in fair condition specimens. Haliotis sp. from Maksymivka differs from H. vohlynica mainly by a different ratio L/W (1.34- 1.58 for H. volhynica vs. 1.79 for Haliotis sp.) that gives rise to a more open spire and by the different ornamentation, without radial folds and evident spirals cords, if not in the early part of the spire. The similarity with H. tuherculata tauroplanata Sacco, 1897 from the Early Miocene (Burdigalian) of Turin hills (Piedmont, Italy) (Figs. 19-22) is evident when considering the general shape of the shell, but it is a bit less when comparing the two different spiral ornamentations. In Haliotis sp. the first part of the spire shows some slender spiral cords and small tubercles which disappear as increasing the spiral size, while there are not present in H. tuberculata tauroplanata which has also a spiral ornamentation made up of flattened cords which extend over the entire surface of the shell. Moreover Haliotis sp. has the anterior margin almost straight, while that of H. tuberculata tauro- planata is more convex and gives a more ellipsoid profile to the shell. We consider the specimen reported by Krach from Weglinek (Poland) as H. tuberculata tauro- planata conspecific to the present species. CONCLUSIONS The findings of H. volhynica from Maksymivka confirm that abalone species, as taxa typical for high-energy, rocky environments, are one of the most characteristic and abundant group of gastropods among Late Badenian free-living reef-dwellers. Particularly important is to be con- sidered the recent discovery of a second species of Haliotis from the same site, only two specimens in several years of research that led to the discovery of many specimens of H. volhynica. This latter seems the more frequent species of gastropods found at Maksymivka, though most of the speci- mens are not complete or are so matted in the rock that they can not be extracted. This second species, already reported in the past by Krach (1981) from Poland as H. tuberculata tauroplanata , show differences with the species of Sacco from the Burdigalian of Piedmont, and must be considered as a different species. We leave it indeterminate at specific level because of the scarcity of material known to date, waiting for more material to give a specific determination and to confirm or not the differences with the species from the Miocene of Italy. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors wish to thank Daniele Ormezzano (Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali of Turin, Italy) for helping during the visit to the Bellardi Sacco collection. REFERENCES Baluk W., 1975. Lower Tortonian gastropods from Korytnica, Poland. Palaeontologia Polonica, 32: 1- 186. Bielecka M., 1967. Trzeciorzqd poludniowo-zachodniej czqsci Wyzyny Lubelskiej [The Tertiary of the south- western part of the Lublin Upland], Biuletyn Panstwowego Instytutu Geologicznego, 206: 115- 188. Csepreghy-Meznerics I., 1954. Helvetische und torton- ische Fauna aus dem ostlichen Cserhatgebirge. An- nales de flnstitut Geologique de Hongrie, 41: 1-185. Davidaschvili L.S., 1937. On the ecology of animals of the middle Miocene reefs of Ukrainian SSR. Problems of Paleontology, 2-3: 537-563. Eichwald E., 1829. Zoologia Specialis quam expositis animalibus turn vivis, turn fossilibus potissimum Rossiae in Universum, et Poloniae in specie... Typis Josephi Zawadzki, Vilnae, 3 14 pp., 5 pis. Friedberg W., 1911-1928. Miqczaki miocenskie ziem Polskich. Czesc I. Slimaki i Lodkonogi. (Mollusca Miocaenica Poloniae. Pars I. Gastropoda et Scapho- poda). Museum Imienia Dzieduszyckich, Lwow- Poznan, 631 pp. Geiger D.L., 2000. Distribution and Biogeography of the recent Haliotidae (Gastropoda: Vetigastropoda) World-wide. Bollettino Malacologico, 35: 57-120. Geiger D.L. & Groves L.T., 1999. Review of fossil Abalone (Gastropoda: Vetigastropoda: Haliotidae) with comparison to Recent species. Journal of Paleontology, 73: 872-885. Gorka M., Studencka B., Jasionovski M., Hara U., Wysocka A. & Poberezhskyy A., 2012. The Medobory Hills (Ukraine): Middle Miocene reef systems in the Paratethys, their biological diversity and lithofacies. 94 Maurizio Forli et alii Biuletyn Panstwowego Instytutu Geologicznego, 449; 147-174. Hornes M., 1851-1870. Die fossilen Mollusken des Tertiar-Beckens von Wien. Abhandlungen der K. K. Geologischen Reichsanstalt, Wien, 3: 1-42, pis. 1-5 (1851), 43-208, pis. 6-20 (1852), 209-296, pis. 21- 32 (1853), 297-384, pis. 33^10 (1854), 383-460, pis. 41-45 (1855), 461-736, pis. 46-52 (1856); 4: 1-479, pis. 1-85 (1870). Jakubowski G. & Musial T., 1979. Lithology and fauna of the Middle Miocene deposits of Trzqsiny (Roztocze Tomaszowskie Region, South-eastern Poland). Prace Muzeum Ziemi, 32: 37-70, pis. 1-6. Kojumdgieva E. & Strachimirov B., 1960. Tortonien; Le Tortonien du type viennois. Les fossiles de Bulgarie, 7: 13-246. Korobkov I. A., 1955. Spravochnik i metodicheskoe rukovodstvo po tretichnym molljuskam. Brjuchonogie. Gostoptechizdat, Leningrad, 795 pp. Krach W., 1981. The Badenskie utwory rafowe na Roz- toczu Lubelskim [The Baden reef formations in Roz- tocze Lubelskie], Wydawnictwa Geologiczne, 121: 5-115. Landau B., Marquet R. & Grigis M., 2003. The early Pliocene Gastropoda (Mollusca) of Estepona, southern Spain. Part 1 : Vetigastropoda. Palaeontos, 3: 1-87. Radwanski A., Gorka M. & Wysocka A., 2006. Middle Miocene coralgal facies at Maksymivka near Ter- nopil (Ukraine): A preliminary account. Acta Geolo- gica Polonica, 56: 89-103. Sohl N. F., 1992. Upper Cretaceous gastropods (Fissu- rellidae, Haliotidae, Scissurellidae) from Puerto Rico and Jamaica. Journal of Paleontology, 66: 414- 434. Strausz L., 1966. Die Miozan-Mediterranen Gastropoden Ungams. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, 693 pp. Studencka B. & Jasionovski M., 2011. Bivalves from the Middle Miocene reefs of Poland and Ukraine: A new approach to Badenian/Sarmatian boundary in the Paratethys. Acta Geologica Polonica, 61: 79- 114. Zelinskaya V.A., Kulichenko V.G., Makarenki D.E. & Sorochan E.A., 1968. Gastropod and scaphopod mollusks of the Paleogene and Miocene of the Ukraine. Paleontologiceskij Spravocnik, 2: 1-282. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 95-104 Planktonic and Fisheries biodiversity of Alkaline Saline crater lakes of Western Uganda Mujibu Nkambo 1 *, Fredrick W. Bugenyi 2 , Janet Naluwayiro 1 , Sauda Nayiga 3 , Vicent Kiggundu 1 , Godfrey Magezi 1 &Waswa Leonard 4 'Aquaculture Research and Development Center-Kajjansi, National Fisheries Resources Research Institute (NaFIRRI), Uganda department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences (CONAS), Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda 3 Islamic University In Uganda (IUIU) 4 Katwe Kabatoro community, Uganda ^Corresponding author, email: mnkambo@yahoo.co.uk ABSTRACT Eight (8) selected saline crater lakes in Western Uganda were sampled for fish biodiversity. Water samples collected from each of these lakes were analysed for zoo- and phyto- planktonic composition and abundance. In situ, physico-chemical parameters including average depth, salinity, temperature, conductivity, Dissolved Oxygen and pH were taken at each sample collection point. The Mean ± SD of the different parameters ranged between 0.2±0.0 m and 2.3±0.3 m for average depth, 0.0±0.0 mgl' 1 and 205.0±15.3 mgl" 1 for salinity, 27.9±0.3°C and 34.4±2.4°C for temperature, 18.6±0.1 mscm-1 and 106.3±3.5 mscm-1 for conductivity, 1.7±0.4 mgl 1 and 6.0±1.0 mgf 1 for Dissolved Oxygen and 9.6±0.1 and 11.5±1.0 for pH. With the exception of the Lakes Bagusa, where Anabaena circinalis Rabenhorst ex Bornet et Flahaulwas found to dominate the algal biomass, and Bunyampaka and Nyamunuka where no Spirulina platensis (Nordstedt) Gomont was found, the rest of the studied lakes had S. platensis dominating their algal biomass. All lakes showed very low zooplankton abund- ances and biodiversity, with Lake Kikorongo (the one with the highest zooplankton biod- iversity) having Brachionus calyciflorus Pallas, 1766 as the most abundant, only ranging between 50 to 100 individuals/litre. None of the lakes had fish at the time of sampling. KEY WORDS Zooplankton; Phytoplankton; Fish; saline; alkaline; lakes. Received 11.02.2015; accepted 18.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 INTRODUCTION Minute free-floating organisms found in various water bodies can be referred to as planktons and have been reported to be the main food for fish (Lind, 1965). Planktons have been reported to play pivotal roles in the biosphere in terms of both primary and secondary production (Boero et al., 2008). Plant-like minute organisms continuously drifting in the water are referred to as phytoplankton while the minute animal-like organisms, unable to syn- thesize food are referred to as zooplankton. Plank- tons are not only food organisms for fish fry, fin- gerlings and adult fish but also influence key abiotic features in aquatic systems (Joshi, 2009). Saline systems have been reported to have a generally low biodiversity (Hammer, 1986), with diatoms being more dominant among algal biomass in alkaline saline systems (Stenger-Kovacs et al., 2014). Rotifera, Cladocera, Copepoda and Anostraca species generally are the dominant zooplankton in saline systems with their biodiversity decreasing 96 Mujibu Nkambo etalii with increasing salinity (Hammer, 1993). In partic- ular, East African saline lakes have been reported to show more rotifers in their zooplankton as- semblages than either Copepods or Cladocerans, with the dominant species of Rotifera, Copepoda and Cladocera reported to change with the salinity gradient (Green, 1993). Alkaline saline crater lakes are considered very productive environments (Harper et al., 2003; Grant, 2006), with prokaryotic photosynthetic primary production suggested to be the driving force behind nutrient recycling in these systems (Jones & Grant, 1999). Community even- ness decreases with increasing nutrient concentra- tion, with the few favored species being dominant (Harper et al., 2003). Abundance of certain species like Dunaliella sp. dominate the saline waters of Utah lake in the USA (Larson & Belovsky, 2013), while ‘ SpirulincC Arthrospira fusiformis (Voronikhin) Komarek et J.W.G.Lund has been reported to be dominant in lake Bogoria which is a hypersaline lake in Kenya, east Africa (Harper et al., 2003; Matagi, 2004) with no macro-zooplankton and lesser flamingo, Phoeniconaias minor (E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1798), as the only grazers (Harper et al., 2003). Several fish species more especially amphi- haline species have been described to have physiolo- gical mechanisms which enable them to migrate between freshwater and sea water, with many other species with ability to tolerate, adapt or even accli- mate to salinity, alkalinity and ionic compositions levels outside the conventional freshwater and sea- water conditions (Brauner et al., 2013). Whereas both native and exotic species were found in waters with salinities less than 30 mgU in a study of fish distribution in inland saline waters in Victoria, Australia, no inland fish species were found at salin- ities above 30 mgl' 1 (Chessman & Williams, 1974). Flamingo lakes with salinity levels below 20 mgl 1 are reported to have fish species of commercial value (Hadgembes, 2006). Several species were said to tolerate salinities as high as 15,000 mgl 1 with only the nine-spined stickle back resisting at salinities of 20,000 mgl' 1 (Rawson & Moore, 1944). Oreochromis alcalicns alcalicus (Hilgendorf, 1905), O. alcalicus grahami (Trewavas, 1983), and O. amphimelas (Hilgendorf, 1905), have been reported to be endemic in lakes Magadi and Natron which are among the East African saline lakes (Matagi, 2004). A number of environmental factors including salinity and nutrients in hypersaline systems may be potential factors which do affect biodiversity in saline environments (Larson & Belovsky, 2013). Saline lakes show limited species complement in micro-organisms contrary to the considerable biod- iversity in micro-organisms (Harper et al., 2003). Larson & Belovsky (2013) reported salinity and nutrient concentration in hypersaline lakes as among the strong determinants of phytoplankton diversity, with species richness decreasing with increasing salinity and increasing with increasing nutrient concentration. Despite the inverse propor- tionality between saline and aquatic biodiversity, the relationship between salts is still not well understood (Derry et al., 2003; Rios-Escalante, 2013). Contrary to the numerous fish and plank- tonic biodiversity studies in fresh water systems, very little of such studies has been conducted in these unique saline systems (Jones & Grant, 1999; Larson & Belovsky, 2013). The aim of this study is, therefore, to investigate fish and planktonic bio- diversity in selected saline crater lakes of western Uganda as a way of providing more information on fish and planktonic biodiversity in saline systems. MATERIAL AND METHODS Study area Lakes considered in this study are small unique water bodies found in Katwe-Kikorongo volcanic field in western Uganda. Lake Katwe (029.87033°E, 00.13217°S), is the largest among these lakes with an average area of 2.5 km 2 (Nixon et al., 1971). Other lakes considered in this study were Katwe Munyanyange (029.8859 1°E, 00. 1351 3 °S), Nyamunuka (029.98743°E, 00.09344°S), Bagusa (030.17958°E, 00.09793°S), Murumuri (029.99186°E, 00.07323°S), Maseche (030.19019°E, 00.09355°S), Bunyampaka (030.12819°E, 00.03765°S) and Kiko- rongo (030.01228°E, 00.01 190°S). Among the studied lakes, Bagusa and Kilcorongo were at the lowest and highest altitude, 884 m and 939 m, respectively, above sea level (a. s. 1). The majority of these lakes are alkaline and saline in nature with dominant anions being carbonates and sulphates (Nkambo et al., 2015). These lakes exhibit consid- Planktonic and Fisheries biodiversity of Alkaline Saline crater lakes of Western Uganda 97 erable temporal variations in volume and surface area, with their total depth ranging between <1-6 m (Kirabira et al., 2013). Zooplankton and phytoplankton diversity Data collection in this study was done between the 26th of February and 3rd of March, 2014, a period towards the end of the dry season in this region. A Global Positioning System (GPS) unit (GARMIN 12XL) was used to take GPS coordin- ates and the Altitude / elevation above sea level of the different sampling points. Zooplankton samples were obtained by filtering four liters of water collected from every set geo- referenced sampling point through a 50 pm mesh zooplankton net. The samples obtained after filtra- tion were preserved in 95% ethanol and earned to the National Fisheries Resources Research Institute (NaFIRRI) laboratory, Jinja, for identification to the lowest possible taxonomic level and counted under an inverted microscope. Using a Van Dorn water sampler, water samples for phytoplankton analysis were collected at a depth of 0.5 m in lakes whose average depth was more than 1 m. For the very shallow lakes (depth < 0.5 m), surface water samples were collected for zoo and phytoplankton analysis. 500 ml of the collected water samples were preserved using Lugol’s solution in pre-rinsed Nalgene bottles which were kept in a cooler box containing dry ice and later transferred to the National Fisheries Resource Research Institute (NaFIRRI) laboratory in Jinja. In the laboratory, phytoplanktons in the collected water samples were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level and the wet biomass of each of the identified group determined. Selected physical and chemical parameters (depth, temperature (T°C), dissolved oxygen concentration (DO), pH, Conductivity (Cond) and salinity) were also measured in-situ at the lake surface and bottom. Where lakes were too shallow, physico-chemical measurements were taken at the lakes surface. Water temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration and conductivity were measured using a YSI oxygen/temperature/conductivity meter (Model YSI 5 50 A), pH was determined using an OAKTON pH Tester 30, while salinity was meas- ured with a refractometer. The depth was determ- ined using a portable depth finder (Hondex PS-7). Fish diversity All the study lakes, deeper than 0.5 m were sampled for fish by setting gill nets and seine nets in the evening at 5 pm and removing them in the following morning at 7 am. In addition we also asked to the people belonging to the communities around each of the studied lakes whether they have ever seen or got any fish from these lakes. RESULTS Physico-chemical parameters Lakes Munyanyange, Nyamunuka, Murumuri, and Bunyampaka were found to be very shallow (depth<0.5 m) at the time of sampling, whereas, lake Kikorongo was the deepest. The highest measured dissolved oxygen (DO) was 6.0±1.0 mgl' 1 in Lake Kikorongo while Munyanyange and Muru- muri had the lowest and second lowest DO (1 .7±0.4 and 1.7±0.5 mgl" 1 , respectively). All the sampled lakes were found to be alkaline with pH ranging between 9.58±0.1 (lake Bunyampaka) and 11.5±1.0 (Nyamunuka). The highest temperatures ranged between 28.9±0.4°C and 34.4±2.4°C. Salinity was between 0 mgl' 1 ( lake Kikorongo) and 205.0±15.3 mgl' 1 (Nyamunuka) Conductivity ranged between 10.5±0.6 mscm' 1 (Nyamunuka) and 106.3±3.5 mscm' 1 (Murumuri) (Table 1). Phytoplankton diversity A total of twenty nine (29) phytoplankton species were found in the eight study lakes. Out of them, nineteen (19) belonged to Cyanophyceae, commonly known as Cynobacteria (blue-green algae (BG)) which are predominantly photosynthe- tic prokaryotes containing a blue pigment in addi- tion to the chlorophyll (WHO, 1999). Six (6) belonged to Chlorophyceae commonly referred to as Chlorophyta (green algae (G)). Four (4) be- longed to Bacillariophyceae, commonly referred to as diatoms (D). Lakes Maseche (912,347 pgL" 1 ) and Bagusa (210,290 pgL' 1 ) were found to have the highest and second highest algal biomass. These were followed by lakes Katwe and Murumuri which had algal biomass of 90,653 pgL 1 and 86,240 pgL 1 , respectively. Lakes Katwe and 98 Mujibu Nkambo etalii Lake Depth (m) D.O (mgl 1 ) pH Temp. (°C) Salinity (mgl 1 ) Cond (mscm 1 ) Katwe 2.1±0.7 2.6±0.2 9.9±0.1 27.9±0.3 180±67.8 104.5±6.4 Munyanyange 0.2±0.1 1.7±0.4 10.8±0.4 34.4±2.4 101.0±7.1 59.7±8.2 Nyamunuka 0.2±0.2 2.6±0.3 11.5±1.0 30.5±3.1 205.0±15.3 10.5±0.6 Murumuri 0.2±0.0 1.7±0.5 ll.lil.3 32.0±0.8 162.8±34.2 106.3±3.5 Bunyampaka 0.2±0.1 2.20±0.6 9.6±0.1 30.33±1.5 199.50±16.4 103.90±4.3 Bagusa 1.9±0.5 3.2±0.8 10.5±0.4 32.1±2.0 199.5±16.4 103.9±4.3 Maseche 1.3±0.2 2.9±0.4 10.9±0.4 30.0±0.7 92.3±7.6 71.2±1.3 Kikorongo 2.3±0.3 6.0±1.0 10.4±0.0 28.9±0.4 0 . 0 ± 0.0 18.6±0.1 Table 1. Mean±SD of the selected measured physico-chemical parameters in the selected studied saline crater lakes. Bunyampaka showed the highest algal biodiversity while lakes Maseche and Nyamunuka had the lowest biodiversity. Cyanophyceae (BG) dominated the algal composition of all the studied lakes. With the exception of Lake Munanyange, were no Chloro- phyceae species (G) were found, the other lakes showed Chlorophyceae and Bacillariophyceae (D) species in relatively small abundances in compar- ison to Cyanophyceae. With the exception of Lake Bagusa where Anabaena circinalis was found to be dominant, and Bunyampaka and Nyamunuka where no Spirulina platensis was found, in the rest of the lakes S. platensis was dominant (Table 2). Zooplankton diversity Lakes Kikorongo, Maseche, and Katwe were found to have zooplanktons belonging to Rotifera. Lakes Maseche and Kikorongo showed also zooplanktons belonging to Copepoda and none of the studied lakes was found to have cladocerans at the time of sampling. Lakes Munyanyange, Maseche, Murumuli, Katwe and Nyamunukahad small cysts which could not be identified. Water samples from lakes Bunyampaka and Bagusa had neither zooplankton nor un-identified cysts (Table 3). Fish diversity N one of the selected saline crater lakes con- si- dered in this study had fish at the time of sampling. With the exception of Lake Kikorongo, in which the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822), was observed (sometimes) during the rainy season, none of the other studied lakes was reported to have fish, ever. DISCUSSION Phytoplankton diversity In the present study, blue-green (Cyanobacteria) algae are dominant in all the lakes, with Spirulina R J.F. Turpin ex M. Gomont being the most domin- ant phytoplankton in the majority of them (Table 2). This is in agreement with earlier studies done in alkaline, saline crater lakes which reported Spirulina platensis to be the most dominant (Hecky & Kilham, 1973) in constrast with the reported domin- ance of algal biomass by diatoms in anthroposaline lakes in Romania and Bolivia (Stenger-Kovacs et al., 2014). The dominance of Cyanobacteria in these harsh environments can be attributed to their ability to withstand extreme water conditions like very high temperatures, pH and salinity. Some Cyanobacteria species have got special adaptations like ultraviolet absorbing sheath pigments which increase their fitness in relatively exposed environ- ments; indeed they have been reported to occur in waters that are salty, brackish or fresh, in cold or hot springs and in environments where no other Planktonic and Fisheries biodiversity of Alkaline Saline crater lakes of Western Uganda 99 Taxa Group Taxa Bagusa Buny- ampaka Munya- nyange Maseche Katwe Kiko- rongo \va mu- ii uka Mil ru- in uri BG Planktolyngbya limnetica (Lemmermann) Komarkova- Legnerova et Cronberg 15845 2,773 - 8,216 7,343 - - 7,805 BG Aphanocapsci sp. 522 274 548 - 342 - 365 730 BG Spirulina platensis (Nordstedt) Gomont 12,324 - 25,880 879,909 66,856 43,133 - 69,012 BG Anabaena sp. 15,649 219 - - 3,286 - - - G Stichococcus sp. 3.912 96 - - 787 - - - D Centric diatoms 104 292 37 146 730 - 292 37 BG Planktolyngbya circumcreta (G.S. West) Anagnostidis et Komarek 440 411 1,438 - - - 205 411 BG Chroococcus sp. 391 137 - 365 - 23 - - BG Anabaena circinalis Rabenhorst ex Bomet et Flahault 157,273 11.867 9,859 5,112 6,207 548 38,085 913 G Stichococcus sp. 3,668 342 274 479 2,465 1,575 1,404 G Nephrochlamys rostrata Nygaard, Komarek, J.Kristiansen et O.M. Skulberg 162 - - - - 1,506 - - BG Tiny blue green - 101 151 - - 228 - - BG Anabaenopsis tanganyikae (G.S. West) Woloszynska et V. V.Miller - 55 - - - - - - BG Pseudoanabaena sp. - 411 411 - 103 - 308 - BG Anacystis limnetica (Lemmermann) Drouet et Daily - 183 365 - 274 137 342 297 BG Romeria sp. - 55 - - - - - - D Nitzschia acicularis (Kiitzing) W. Smith - 274 - - 23 - 137 23 G Closterium acerosum Ehrenberg ex Ralfs - - 411 411 205 205 411 - BG Oscillatoria tenuis C. Agardh ex Gomont - - - 17,253 - - - - BG Aphanocapsa nubila Komarek et H.J. Kling - - - 456 - 91 - 183 BG Coelosphaerium kuetzingian um Nageli - - - - 1,826 - - 4,747 BG Planktolyngbya undulata Komarek et R. Kling - - - - 103 - - - G Ankistrodesmus falcatus (Corda) Ralfs - - - - 103 - - - BG Chroococcus dispersus (Keissler) Lemmermann - - - - - 68 - - D Cyclostephanodiscus sp. - - - - - 37 - - D Navicula gastrum (Ehrenberg) Kiitzing - - - - - 856 - - BG Merismopedia tenussima Lemmermann - - - - - - - 292 G Monoraphidium contortum (Thuret) Komarkova-Legnerova - - - - - - 22 BG Aphanizomenon flosaquae Ralfs ex Bomet et Flahault - - - - - - - 365 Total 210,290 17,488 39,372 912,347 90,653 48,065 44,698 86,240 Table 2. Mean Wet biomass (pg/1) concentrations of the different phytoplanktons in the selected Alkaline, saline lakes considered in this study. BG = Blue green algae, G = green algae, D = Diatoms. 100 Mujibu Nkambo etalii microalgae occur (WHO, 1999). Allelopathy can be another factor to explain the dominance of Cy- anobacteria in these lakes. Freshwater Cyanobac- teria like Oscillatoria sp. have been reported to have exudates which can inhibit green alga Chlorella vulgaris Beyerinck [Beijerinck] (Leao et al., 2010). In the same way Cyanobacteria in these saline crater lakes might be influencing the algal biodiversity through allelopathy. Matagi (2004) reported Spirulina ( Arthrospira fusiformis ) to be the most successful algae in colonizing alkaline, saline lakes found in the Eastern Rift valley. Lake Lonar, an inland alkaline saline crater lake in India was reported to have its phytoplankton biomass domin- ated by Spirulina platensis (Satyanarayan et al., 2007; Siddiqi, 2007; Yannawar & Bhosle, 2013). Lakes Nakuru, Bogoria and Elmenteita, which are alkaline-saline lakes in Kenya, were characterized by mass growth of Cyanobacteria including Arth- rospira fusiformis (Harper et al., 2003; Ballot et al., 2004). The Presence of Cyanobacteria in these alkaline-saline lakes is in conformity with the findings of the present study where Spirulina domi- nates the phytoplankton biomass. Jones & Grant (1999) reported Spirulina spp. to be among the main contributors to primary production in moder- ately saline lakes while studies by Hadgembes (2006) documented Spirulina to be one of the unique Cyanobacteria occurring in East African saline lakes. The extreme inhospitable conditions in alkaline, saline crater lakes mean that the biodiversity in these systems is limited to organisms with special adaptations to survive such extreme conditions (Matagi, 2004). Primary production in Flamingo lakes of East Africa was reported to be dominated by A. fusiformis with Ecloth iorhodospira sp. some- times playing a key role (Jones & Grant, 1 999; Ma- tagi, 2004). Nitzchia sp. and Navicula sp. are some of the other algal species found in these lakes (present study) or in other highly alkaline and saline environments (Matagi, 2004). Chroococcus sp. is another species of Cyanobacteria recorded in this Munya- yange Kiko- rongo Maseche Murumuli Bunyam- paka Katwe Bagusa \va mu- ii u ka ROTIFERA Brachionus calyciflorus Pallas, 1766 - +++ - - - + - - Brachionus angularis Gosse, 1851 - - + - - - - - Lecane lima (Muller, 1776) - + - - - - - - Trichocerca cylindrica (Imhof, 1891) - - - - - - - - Synch eat a sp. - + - + - - - - COPEPODA nauplii - + - - - - - - cyclopoid copepodite - - + - - - - - CLADOCERA Moina micrura Kurz, 1874 - - - - - - - - unidentified cysts + - + + - + - + Table 3. Mean zooplankton abundance (Individuals per litre) in the different studied saline crater lakes. + = 1 to 10 individuals /l, ++ = 10 to 50 individuals/1, +++ = 50 to 100 individuals/1, - = 0 individuals/1. Planktonic and Fisheries biodiversity of Alkaline Saline crater lakes of Western Uganda 101 study which was reported by Jones & Grant (1999) to play a key role in primary production in soda lakes of East Africa.In studies aimed at reconstruct- ing relationships between diatoms assemblages with salinity, it was observed that salinity might not be the primary cause of the shift in the diatom assemblage but a factor highly related to drivers of species shift (Saros & Fritz, 2000). In the same way salinity might be playing a key role in determining the Cyanobacteria species occurring in the alkaline saline environments, but other possible drivers should not be overlooked. In a study to determine the extent to which salinity influences community structures in saline systems, salinity was reported to play a less significant role in the determination of composition, species richness and biodiversity (William, 1998). For example, the highest algal biodiversity observed in lakes Katwe and Bunyampaka and the least algal biodiversity (in lakes Maseche and Nyamunuka) might be attributed to the daily anthropogenic disturbances experienced by the first two lakes during the process of salt extraction, while the other two are lakes with no daily anthropogenic disturb- ance. It should be noted that communities around lakes Katwe and Bunyampaka continuously extract salt from these lakes on a daily basis and such disturbances might be impacting various algal species differently. Zooplankton diversity All the studied lakes showed a very low zoo- plankton biodiversity, with only Brachionus calyci- florus in lakes Kikorongo and Katwe; Brachionus angularis in Fake Maseche, and Syncheata sp. in lakes Kikorongo and Murumuli (the only species of the phylum Rotifera present, see Table 3). Brachio- nus plicatilis (Muller, 1786) and Paradiaptomas africanus (Daday, 1910) (= Lovenula africana) have already been reported to be characteristic zo- oplankton in alkaline saline crater lakes (Hecky & Kilham, 1973). Matagi (2004) listed Lovenula afri- cana (Daday, 1910), Brachionus dimidiatus (Bryce, 1931), B. plicatilis (Muller, 1786) and chironomids as the dominant macro-invertebrates in the highly alkaline, hypersaline flamingo lakes of east Africa. All of these were absent in our study. Nauplii in Fake Kikorongo and cyclopoid copepodites in Fake Ma- seche were the only Copepoda members observed. Other macro-zooplanktons like cladocerans, neck- ton fauna, and crustacean decapods were conspicu- ously absent, probably due to the highly alkaline pH. Fake Bogoria in Kenya which is an alkaline, saline lake was reported to have no macro-zooplank- ton with lesser Flamingo, Phoeniconaias minor as the only grazer occasionally visiting these lakes in high numbers (Harper et al., 2003). The absence of crustacean decapods in a limnological study of lake Fonar an alkaline, saline crater lakes in India was attributed to a pH shock (pH > 10-11, alkaline death point) (Siddiqi, 2007). An inverse proportion- ality between biodiversity and salinity was reported by Deny et al., (2003); Farson & Belovsky (2013), and Rios-Escalante (2013); this might be the explan- ation for the slightly high zooplankton biodiversity in Fake Kikorongo since its salinity was found to be very low at the time of sampling (Table 1). In field and laboratory experiments designed to exam- ine the consequences of climate-induced salinity increases on zooplankton abundance and diversity in coastal lakes, severe disturbances in zooplankton community structure and abundance were caused by even veiy small salinity changes, with even very small increments in salinity capable of leading to biodiversity depletion (Schallenberg et al., 2003). Similarly, the low zooplankton biodiversity in these lakes might be attributed to the high salinity levels (see Table 1). The unidentified cysts found in some of the lakes might be dormant stages of zooplanktons released as a mean of surviving extreme environ- mental conditions. These dormant stages return to life on the set of suitable conditions within the lakes. Some zooplanktons, particularly members of the order Anostroca lik eArtemia Feach, 1819, have been reported to release dormant embryos in form of cysts. Indeed, all Artemia species and strains reproduce ovoviviparously (by generating live nauplii) under favorable conditions, and oviparously when dormant embryos are released in form of cysts to withstand the harsh unfavorable envir- onmental conditions (Ghomari et al., 2011; Ben Naceur et al., 2012). Fish diversity Although some fish species like Oreochromis alcalicus alcalicus, O. alcalicus grahami, and O. amphimelas were reported to inhabit lakes Magadi 102 Mujibu Nkambo etalii and Natron which are both alkaline and saline in nature (Matagi, 2004), no fish were found in these lakes during the study. Hecky & Kilham (1973) also reported cichlid fish like Alcolapia grahami (Boulenger, 1912) to occur in some of the alkaline, saline lakes. The absence of fish in the different studied lakes at the time of sampling can be attrib- uted to the extreme environmental conditions like the very high temperatures, salinity and alkalinity. Previously, the complete absence of fish in Lake Lonar was reported to be correlated with extreme environmental physico-chemical parameters (Siddiqi, 2007). Many lakes, being shallow, experience very high variations in volume and surface area with some of these lakes reported to evaporate to dryness during the extreme dry seasons (Nkambo et al., 2015). This makes difficult, if not impossible, for fish to survive during the dry seasons. Moreover, the absence of appropriate food organisms in form of zooplankton (i.e. Brachionus plicatilis ) could be another probable reason for the absence of fish (see Table 3). Some of the Cyanobacteria found in these lakes lik q Anabaena sp, Anabaenopsis V.V. Miller, 1923 and Oscillataria Vaucher ex Gomont, 1892, have been reported to release cyanotoxins with lethal effects on mammals (WHO, 1999; Lyra et al., 2001). Although several research works on cyano- toxins have focused on humans and other livestocks (Leao et al., 2010), it is possible that these cyano- toxins have similar toxic effects on aquatic organ- isms including fish. Anabaena sp. have been reported to release anatoxin-a which is a neurotoxin reported to have lethal effects when tested on Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758 larvae (Oswawald et al., 2007). The presences of toxic Cyanobacteria might be hindering fish occurrence in these lakes considered under this study. With the exception of Lake Kikorongo, which sometimes receives flood waters from the neighboring lake Gorge (Hecky & Kilham, 1973; Mungoma, 1990; Nkambo et al., 2015), the rest of the lakes considered under this study are located in closed basins with no connec- tions to other lakes or rivers. This implies that these lakes have no possibilities of being seeded with fish by inflowing waters from other natural systems. The reported occurrence of the African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus, in Lake Kikorongo in the rainy season might be due to flood waters from Lake Gorge. In fact, Nkambo et al., (2015) reported incoming flood waters from Lake Gorge to cause a reduction in the salinity of Lake Kikorongo. A reduction in salinity might make this lake condu- cive for fish survival during the wet season. It is possible that catfish brought along with floods remain in this lake during the rainy season and die off in the dry season as the water conditions become extremely unbearable. CONCLUSIONS Our findings are in agreement with earlier studies by Hecky & Kilham (1973), Matagi (2004), Satyanarayan et al., (2007), Siddiqi (2007) and Yan- nawar & Bhosle (2013) which reported Cyanobac- teria to dominate algal biomass in saline systems, in contrast with earlier studies by Stenger-Kovacs et al., (2014), which reported diatoms to dominate the algal biomass in saline lakes in Romania and Bolivia. Lakes considered under this study had very low zooplankton abundance and diversity with Lake Kikorongo, which had the highest zooplank- ton biodiversity, showing the rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus, the most abundant, ranging only between 50 to 100 individuals /litre. None of the study lakes had fish at the time of sampling. In our opinion, this information on fish and planktonic biodiversity in these alkaline, saline systems is very useful in providing the ecological basis for the management of the lakes. Data on dominant zoo and phytoplanktons in the lakes can be used as bio-indicators in assessing the ecological status, as well as the impact of climate change on these unique systems. Recommendations Further comprehensive studies are needed to assess the effect of season variability on fish and planktonic biodiversity. Detailed studies of the daily anthropogenic disturbances on the algal and zooplankton biodiversity in these lakes during the salt extraction process are required to give a better understanding of the changes in planktonic compos- ition, species abundance and biodiversity due to anthropogenic disturbances. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks are reserved for the following Planktonic and Fisheries biodiversity of Alkaline Saline crater lakes of Western Uganda 103 institutions of Uganda: National Agricultural Re- search Organisation (NARO), National Fisheries Resources Research Institute (NaFIRRI), Kajjansi Aquaculture Research and Development Center (KARDC), Department of Biological Science, Makerere University and Katwe-Kabatoro Com- munity, for the various supports offered will carrying out this research. REFERENCES Ballot A., Kotut K., Wiegand C., Metcalf S. J., Codd G. A. & Pflugmacher S., 2004. Cyanobacteria and cyanobacterial toxins in three alkaline Rift Valley lakes of Kenya-Lakes Bogoria, Nakura and Elmen- teita. Journal of Plankton Research, 26: 925-935. Ben Naceur H., Ben Rejeb Jenhani A. & Romdhane M.S., 2012. Impacts of salinity, temperature and pH on the morphology of Artemia (Branchiopoda: Anostraca) from Tunisia. Zoological studies, 51: 453-462. 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Journal of Paleolimnology, 23: 449-453. Satyanarayan S., Chaudhari PR. & Dhadse S., 2007. Limnological study on Lonar lake: A Unique Black- ish Crater Lakes in India. Proceedings of Taal 2007: The 12th World Lake Conference: 2061-2066. Schallenberg M., Hall C.J. & Burns C.W., 2003. Consequences of climate-induced salinity increases on zooplankton abundance and diversity in coastal lakes. Marine ecology. Progress series, 251: 181— 189. Siddiqi S.Z., 2007. Limnological Profile of High-Impact Meteor Crater Lake Lonar, Buldana, Maharashtra, India, an Extreme Hyperalkaline, Saline Habitat. Proceedings of Taal 2007: The 12th World Lake Conference: 1597-1613. Stenger-Kovacs, C., Lengyel E., Buczko K., Toth F.M., Crossetti L.O., Pellinger A., Zsuzsa Doma Z. & Padisak J., 2014. Vanishing world: alkaline, saline lakes in Central Europe and their diatom assemblages. Inland Waters, 4: 383-396. WHO, 1999. Toxic Cyanobacteria in the Environment. Toxic Cyanobacteria in Water: a guide to their public health consequences, monitoring and management. Chorus I. & Bartram J. (Eds.). E. & F.N. Spon, London, ISBN 0-419-23930-8. William W.D., 1998. Salinity as a determinant of the structure of biological communities in salt lakes. Hydrobiologia, 381: 191-201. Yannawar B.V. & Bhosle B.A., 2013. Cultural Eutrophic- ation of Lonar Lake, Maharashtra, India. Internatio- nal Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, 3: 504-510. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 105-106 New species of the genus Cyclostremiscus Pilsbry et Olsson, 1 945 from Central Philippines (GastropodaTornidae) Ivan Perugia via Roncalceci n.152, 48125 Ravenna (Filetto), Italy; e-mail; ivanperugia@virgilio.it ABSTRACT Cyclostremiscus Pilsbry et Olsson, 1945 is a genus of the family Tornidae (Gastropoda Rissooidea) established for very small shells of prosobranch molluscs generally living in tropical seas. The new species here described was found in Cebu, Philippine, locatity Tongo Point near Moalboal, in a modest quantity of seagrass beached after a windy day. KEYWORDS Gastropod a; Tornidae; Cyclostremiscus-, Moalboal; Philippines. Received 19.02.2015; accepted 21.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 INTRODUCTION Cyclostremiscus Pilsbry et Olsson, 1945 is a genus of the family Tornidae established for very small sells of prosobranch molluscs generally living in tropical seas. The family Tornidae from Carib- bean area has been extensively studied and illus- trated by Rubio et al. (2011). A new species of this genus from Philippine is described in the present paper. ACRONYMS. MHNUK: Natural History Mu- seum of London, United Kingdom. MNHN: Mu- seum National d'Histoire Naturelle Paris, France. PC: I. Perugia collection, Ravenna, Italy. SISTEMATICS Superfamily TR U N C ATE LL O ID E A Gray, 1840 Family TORNIDAE Sacco, 1896 Subfamily V IT R IN ELL IN A E Bush, 1897 Genus Cyclostremiscus Pilsbry et Olsson, 1945 Type species: Vitrinella panamensis C.B. Adams, 1852 Cyclostremiscus albachiarae n. sp. Examined material. Holotype, Cebu (Philip- pine), locatity Tongo Point near Moalboal, 29. XI. 2007, I. Perugia legit, in a modest quantity of seagrass beached after a windy day, MNHN -IM - 30079. Paratypes 1-5, same data of holotype, M N HN -IM -3 00 80 . Paratypes 6-26, same data of holotype (PC ). Description of holotypus. Shell of small size (Figs. l-4),diam eter 1.5 mm, height 1.0 mm, much wider than high, discoid, rounded, relatively strong, vitreous, colourless. Protoconch of 1.5 whorls, rough, not elevated, max about 350 microns in dia- meter. Teleoconch: spire with 2 whorls, umbilicus open and deep, spiral and axial sculpture present on the entire surface. Spiral sculpture formed by strong prominence keels placed one on dorsum, one on periphery, one on base and another delimiting the umbilicus. Axial sculpture of numerous thin thick arcuate riblets, surmounting the keels, itself inter- sected by almost obsolete spiral lines. Aperture rounded, outer lip with 3 prominences caused by the end of spiral keels; anal sulcus well defined. 106 Ivan Perugia Figures 1-4. CyclostremiscUS albachiarae n. sp., holotype from Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines. Variability. The paratypes do not show sub- stantial morphological differences compared to the holotype. 36 specimens found have all the same size, diameter 1.5 mm, height 1.0 mm. Etymology. Dedicated to my granddaughter Albachiara Perugia (Ravenna, Italy). Remarks. For Cyclostremiscus albachiarae n. sp. was possible a single comparison with Cyclostvema gyalum Melvill, 1904 (MHMUK 1904.7.29.13) which presents three similar keels on body-whorl but is larger (about 5 mm in diameter), has a fine spiral sculpture, not axial and the peripheral keel is slightly waved at the margin (giving a slightly stellate outline when viewed from above). Besides the work of Rubio et al. (2011), other contributions to the knowledge of the family Tornidae were made by Melvill (1904), Adam & Knudsen (1969), Bosch et al. (1995), and Bouchet & Rocroi (2005). REFERENCES Adam W. & Knudsen J., 1969. Quelches genres de mol- lusques prosobranches rnarins inconnu ou peu connus de l’Afrique occidentale. Bulletin Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, 44: 1-69. Bosch D.T., Dance S.P., Moolenbeek R.G. & Oliver P.G., 1 995. Seashells of eastern Arabia. Motivate Publishing Dubai, 296 pp. Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.P., 2005. Classification and nomenclator of gastropod fam dies. Malacologia, 47: 1-397. Melvill J.C., 1904. Descriptions of Twenty-eight Species of Gastropoda from the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and Arabian Sea, Dredged by Mr. F.W. Townsend, of the Indo-European Telegraph Sevice, 1900-1904. Proceedings of the M alacologic al Society, 6: 158-1 69. Rubio F., Fernandez-G arces R. & Rolan E., 2011. The Family Tornidae (Gastropoda, Rissooidea) in the Caribbean and Neighboring Aras. Iberus, 29: 1-230. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 107-114 New taxonomic data on some populations of Carabus Macrothorax} morbillosus Fabricius, 1 792 (Coleoptera Cara- bidae) Ivan Rapuzzi 1 & Ignazio Sparacio 2 'via Cialla 47, 33040 Prepotto, Udine, Italy; email: info@ronchidicialla.it 2 via E. Notarbartolo 54, 90143 Palermo, Italy; email: isparacio@inwind.it ABSTRACT In this work we give new taxonomic data on some, little known, populations of Carabus ( Macrothorax ) morbillosus Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera Carabidae). In particular, C. morbil- losus lampedusae Bom, 1925 described from Lampedusa Island (Sicilian Channel, Italy) is reconsidered a valid subspecies and are designated the lectotype and paralectotypes. Similarly, Carabus morbillosus bruttianus Bom, 1906 described from Southern Calabria is considered a distinct subspecies, including the populations of C. morbillosus from North-Eastern Sicily. KEY WORDS Coleoptera; Carabus ; taxonomy; W-Mediterranean. Received 11.02.2015; accepted 18.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 INTRODUCTION Carabus ( Macrothorax ) morbillosus Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera Carabidae) locus typicus "Mauretania" is a widely W-Mediterranean distrib- uted species (La Greca, 1964; 1984; Vigna Taglianti et al., 1993; Parenzan, 1994) including several populations, even insular, more or less fragmented and differentiated, widespread in Southern France, southern Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Corse, Sardinia, Tyrrhenian central Italy, Southern Ca- labria, Sicily, Sicilian islands, and Malta. From the biogeographic point of view, as the whole subgenus Macrothorax Desmarest, 1850, C. morbillosus is considered a "Tyrrhenian" element (Jannel, 1941 Antoine, 1955; La Greca, 1964; 1984; Casale et al., 1982) with all connected hypotheses and opinions on the origin and spread of the group. Some populations also seem to be originated from passive transport and, later, acclimatized (see Ca- sale et al., 1989). Currently, in Italy, are reported: C. morbillosus morbillosus in Sardinia, Lampedusa and some stations in Central Italy; C. morbillosus alternans Palliardi, 1825 (locus typicus: Sicily) in Sicily, Sicilian islands, and Calabria (Casale et al., 1982; Vigna Taglianti, 1995; Vigna Taglianti et al., 2002). In the "European Fauna" (Vigna Taglianti, 2015) the populations of North Africa, Sardinia and Lampedusa are attributed to C. morbillosus constantinus Kraatz, 1899 (locus typicus: Constantine, Algeria). Carabus morbillosus is an euriecious species living in open areas or with sparse vegetation, often in ruderal areas, urban gardens and crops, under stones and debris, from the sea level up to about 1000 m a.s.l. Carabus morbillosus alternans is found in forests and wooded fields, as oak and eu- calyptus groves (Bosco Ficuzza, Piazza Armerina, Bosco di Santo Pietro, etc.). It is present almost all year long, mainly active from September to April-May. In this work we provide new taxonomic data on some little known populations of C. morbillosus. 108 Ivan Rapuzzi & Ignazio Sparacio In particular, C. morbillosus lampedusae Bom, 1925 described from Lampedusa Island, is recon- sidered as "bona subspecies" and its Lectotype and Paralectotyes are designated; the same is also for C. morbillosus bruttianus Born, 1906, described from Southern Calabria to which we attribute also the populations of C. morbillosus alternans from North-Eastern Sicily. ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS. ETZH: Entomological Collection of ETH, Zurich, Switzer- land; ex/s: exemplair/s; RC: Ivan Rapuzzi collec- tion, Prepotto, Italy; SC: Ignazio Sparacio collec- tion, Palermo, Italy. SYSTEMATICS Carabus ( Macrothorax ) morbillosus lampedusae Bom, 1925 Examined material. Carabus morbillosus lam- pedusae. ETZH: male (Fig. 1). Length: 30.10 mm; width elytra: 10.85 mm; length elytra: 18.80 mm; width pronotum: 7.80 mm; length pronotum: 6.20 mm. Three labels: "Insel Lampedusa" (handwritten by Bom on circular label); "53.565" (print label), "Carabus morbillosus lampedusae?" (handwritten in blu color, more recent and different calligraphy than original labels from Born); red label with present designation of the “Lectotype”. Paralecto- types, 2 males (ETZH), two labels each specimens: "53.566" (print label); length: 30.50 mm; width elytra: 11.70 mm; length elytra: 19.00 mm; width pronotum: 7.60 mm; length pronotum: 6.20 mm. "Carabus morbillosus lampedusae?" (handwritten in blu color, more recent and different calligraphy than original labels from Born). "53.567" (print label); length: 30.30 mm; width elytra: 11.35 mm; length elytra: 18.80 mm; width pronotum: 7.95 mm; length pronotum: 6.00 mm. "Carabus mor- billosus lampedusae?" (hand- written in blu color, more recent and different calligraphy than original labels from Bom); red label with present designa- tion of the “Paralectotype”. Other examined material. Carabus morbillosus lampedusae. ITALY, SICILY. Lampedusa Island (Agrigento), 15.V.1983, I. Sparacio legit, 3 males and 2 females (CS); idem, 10.11.2013, G. Mara- ventano legit, 2 males and 2 females (CS); idem, III.2014, T. La Mantia legit, 2 males and 4 females (CS); Lampedusa (RC), 1 female; Lampedusa Island, 4.II.1994, M. Romano legit, 2 males and 1 female (RC); Lampedusa Island, XI.2012, A. Corso legit, 3 males and 1 female (RC). Carabus morbillosus costantinus. TUNISIA. Saouaf-El Fahs, 10. V. 1992, 1 female (CS); Hammamet, 25.IV. 1998, 2 males (CS); El Fahs- Zaghouan, 28. IV. 1998, 2 females (CS); Tabarka, 3/9.VI.1996, 10.V.1992, 5 males and 6 females (CS); Tunisi, Cap Gammarth, 4.IV.2014, 5 males and 4 females (CS), Tunisia, Bezeste, III. 1982, 1 male (RC); Tunisia, Ain Draham, 11/20. VI. 2008, G. Sama & R Rapuzzi legit, 1 female (RC). Remarks. Carabus lampedusae was originally described by Bom (1925) as a subspecies of C. morbillosus from Lampedusa Island (Sicilian Channel, Italy) without designation of the holotype. We had the opportunity to examine three male spe- cimens preserved in the Entomological Collection of ETH Zurich, ex Bom collection from Lampedusa Island, and we have designated the lectotype and paralecto types. All the three specimens are well preserved. From the systematic point of view, C. morbil- losus lampedusae was considered mostly a variety or a synonym of the nominate subspecies of North Africa (Luigioni, 1929 sub morbillosus v. lampedu- sae ; Breuning, 1932-36: sub natio costantinus ; Porta, 1949 sub var. constantinus; Magistretti, 1965 sub C. morbillosus morbillosus natio costantinus ; Casale et al., 1982 sub C. morbillosus morbillosus ; Deuve, 2004 sub costantinus ). Based on the examined material, we believe "lampedusae" a valid subspecies of C. morbillosus , separate either from North African populations, which is related to, or from the Sicilian ones, that are more differentiated in morphology. In particular, C. morbillosus lampedusae differs from the popu- lations of North Africa by its squat and convex body-shape, a darker and less bright color, with a dominant chromatic variety characterized by dark pronotum and dark green elytra in the middle, and red on the sides; pronotum has wider and deeper basal dimples with hind angles more sinuate on the sides; the 1st elytral interstria shows shallow points, well distinct and little confluent. Hence, C. morbillosus lampedusae would be comprised within the group of autochthonous species of Lampedusa, of apparent North African origin, morphologically differentiated in insularity New taxonomic data on Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera Carabidae) 109 /a Ml Tk&JU F ■^rz iJutC-OAXllA Q&U) Figure 1. Carabus ( Macrothorax ) morbillosus lampedusae Bom, 1925, lectotype with original labels. Figure 2. Carabus (M) morbillosus bruttianus Bom, 1906 lectotype with original labels. conditions. In the Conclusion section (see below), we report morphological characters that distinguish these populations to each other and those charac- terizing the populations under study in this work. Carabus {Macrothorax) morbillosus bruttianus Bom, 1906 Examined material. ITALY, CALABRIA. Carabus morbillosus bruttianus. Lectotype male, Sta Eufemia d’Aspromonte, Calabrien (ETHZ) (Fig. 2); idem, Paralectotype female (ETHZ). Other examined material. Calabria. Reggio Calabria dintomi, I. Sparacio legit, 8.XI.1999, 5 males (RC); Reggio Calabria dintomi, 5.III.2004, I. Sparacio legit, 2 males and 1 female (RC); Reggio Calabria dintomi, 8.XI.1999, 6 males and 5 females (SC); Reggio Calabria: Campo Calabro, 8.XI.1999, 6 males and 2 females (SC); Torrente Zagarella, 8.XI.1999, 8 males (Fig. 5) and 11 fe- males (SC); Gioia Tauro, 9.XI.1999, 13 males and 10 females (SC). ITALY, SICILY. Messina dintomi, 4.XI.2001, 13 males (Fig. 4) and 9 females (SC); Messina, Monte Ciccia, 4. III. 2004, 7 males and 7 females (SC); Messina: Colle San Rizzo, 4.XI.2001, 3 males and 1 female (SC); Messina: Faro, 4. III. 2004, 2 males and 2 females (SC); 3 males (SC); Messina, Torrenova, VIII.2013, A. Tetamo legit, 1 male (SC); Messina dintomi, 4.XI.2001, I. Sparacio legit, 1 male and 1 fe- male (RC); Messina, Monte Ciccia, 4.III.2004, I. Sparacio legit, 2 males (RC); Lipari, Isole Eolie, V.2014, R Lo Cascio legit, 3 males and 1 female (SC). Carabus morbillosus alternans. ITALY, SICILY. Palermo . Carini, 9.X.1978, 3 males and 4 females; idem, 1.V.1979, 1 male (SC); Palermo, 18.X.1978, 1 male and 1 female; idem, 7.II.1979, 1 male; idem, 30.III.1980, 1 female (SC); Palermo: Sferracavallo, Grotta Conza, 3.XI.1978, 2 females (SC); Godrano, 25.XI.1978, 1 male and 2 females (SC); Palermo: Sferracavallo, 14.1.1979, 2 males; idem, 13.V.1980, 1 female (SC); Piana degli Albanesi, 8.II.1979, 3 males and 3 females; idem, 6.II.1992, 1 male and 3 females; idem, 15.IV. 1995, 1 female (SC); Palermo: Favorita, Vallone del Porco, 3.III.1979, 1 male and 2 females (SC); Bosco Ficuzza, 21. XI. 1979, 1 male (Fig. 3) and 1 female; idem, 9.II.1987, 1 female; 110 Ivan Rapuzzi & Ignazio Sparacio idem, 28.1.1989, 1 female (SC); Altofonte, 1. III. 1981, 1 male and 1 female (SC); Altofonte: Poggio San Francesco, 13. III. 1981, 1 male (SC); Cefalu, 7.XI.1987, 1 female (SC); Palermo: Mondello, 18.IX.1988, 1 male (SC); Capaci, 25.11.1989, 1 female (SC); Monreale: Giacalone, 12.1.1992, 3 males and 1 female (SC); Ficuzza: Bivio Lupo, 25.11.1992, 1 male; idem, 13.XI.2001, 2 males (SC); Santuario di Gibilmanna, 23. X. 1994, 1 male (SC); Lercara Friddi: S. Caterina A.D., 24.X.2004, 2 males (SC); Bagheria: Monte Catal- fano, 14.X.2006, 1 female (SC); Roccamena: Maran- fusa, 25.IV.2008, 1 female (SC); Prizzi, 12.VI.2009, 1 male and 1 female (SC); Palermo: Micciulla, 4.IV.2010, T. La Mantia legit, 1 male (SC); Rocca Entella, 18.XI.2011, 3 males (SC); Ficuzza: Gorgo del Drago, 25.XI.2012, 2 females (SC); Diga Poma, 10.XI.20 13, 1 male and 1 female (SC); Trabia: Pizzo Cane, XI.2014, 2 males and 1 female (SC); Cefalu, Settefrati, VI. 1984, 1 male (RC); Ficuzza, Godrano, XI/XII.2010, I. Rapuzzi & L. Caldon legit, 70 exs males and females (RC); Palermo, 13.III.1992, 1 fe- male (RC); Gibilmanna, 500 m, VII. 1984, 1 exs (resti) (RC); Piana d. Albanesi, 700/800 m, III. 1988, 1 male and 1 female (RC); Isnello, 700 m, III. 1988, 2 males (RC). Trapani . Erice, 12.XI.1972, M. Romano legit, 1 male and 1 female (RC); Campobello di Maz- ara, Cave di Cusa, 28.XI.2009, 3 males and 3 females (RC); Mazara costiera, 13.1.1985, 1 male and 2 fe- males (RC); Capo Granitola, 30.1.1986, V. Castelli legit, 2 males and 3 females (RC); Mazara, 3.II.1985, V. Aliquo’ legit, 1 male and 1 female (RC); Selinunte, 24.XI.2002, I. Rapuzzi & L. Cal- don legit, 2 males and 6 females (RC); Segesta, 15.11.201 1, 1. Rapuzzi & L. Caldon legit, 4 males and 2 females (RC); Santa Ninfa, XI.2009, 1. Rapuzzi & L. Caldon legit, 1 male and 1 female (RC); Mazara del Vallo, 28.XI.1979, 2 males and 3 females (SC); San Vito Lo Capo (Trapani), 14.X.1984, 3 males (SC); Monte Cofano, 14.X.1984, 1 female (SC); Cas- tellammare del Golfo, 12.XII.1984, 2 males and 1 female (SC); Cave di Cusa, 14.XII.2003, 2 males; idem, 3 1 .XII. 1 988, 3 females (SC); Foci Fiume Belice, 20.IV. 1989, 1 female (SC); Foci Fiume Birgi, 6.XI.1993, 1 female (SC); Selinunte, 3.XII.1995, 1 male and 1 female (SC); Valderice, 1.2014, 4 males Figure 3. Carabus ( Macrothorax ) morbillosus alternans male, Bosco Ficuzza, Palermo, Sicily. Figure 4. Carabus morbillosus bruttianus male, Messina surroundings, Sicily. Figure 5. Carabus morbillosus bruttianus male, Torrente Zagarella, Reggio Calabria, Calabria (Photos by M. Romano). New taxonomic data on Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera Carabidae) 111 Figure 6. Scatterplot of the relationship between length and width of elytra (upper) and pronotum (bottom) for three po- pulations examined. Are shown the regression lines with the associated confidence intervals (95%). Values of Correlation coefficents for width/length of elytra in the three populations are: Calabria 0.68*, Messina 0.25, Sicilia 0.78*. Those for width/length of pronotum are: Calabria 0.15, Messina 0.42*, Sicilia 0.46*. (* P< 0.05). Pronotum Standardized coefficients Pooled- within-groups correlations Root 1 Root 2 Root 1 Root 2 Elytra Lenght -0.782 1.007 -0.971 0.239 Pronotum Width -0.305 -1.238 -0.790 -0.613 Eigenval 1.346 0.038 Cum. Prop 0.973 1 Table 1. Standardized coefficients (left) e Pooled-within- groups correlations (right) for the two variables selected by correspondence analysis. Means of Canonical Variables Pop. Root 1 Root 2 Calabria 1.480 0.256 Messina 0.570 -0.235 Sicily -1.283 0.067 Table 2. Means of Canonical Variables for the three examined populations. Cases Percent correct Calabria Messina Sicily Calabria 56.3 9 7 0 Messina 73.1 4 19 3 Sicily 76.7 0 7 23 Total 70.8 13 33 26 Table 3. Classification Matrix. The first column shows the per- centages of observations properly attribuited to each popula- tion using discr im inant analysis. The remaining columns show the number of cases falling into each population (diagonally, cases correctly classified). and 3 females (SC). Agrigento . Agrigento, 21.1.1973, 1 male (RC); Agrigento: Valle dei Templi, 1.1972, 1 male and 1 female (RC); Agrigento: Valle dei Templi, 9.II.1987, 1 female; idem, 2.1.1989, 1 male and 1 female (SC). Caltanissetta . Monte Ca- podarso: F. Imera meridionale, 5.VI.2006, 1 male (SC); Ponte Cinque Archi, 14.11.2015, 2 males (SC). Enna . Valguamera (Enna), 25.IX.1979, 1 male (SC); Piazza Armerina: Monte Rossomanno, 10. III. 2008, 1 female (SC); Piazza Armerina, XI.2009, 1. Rapuzzi & L. Caldon legit, 1 female (RC). Syracuse . Vendi- cari, 18.VIII.1993, 2 males and 1 female (SC); Priolo, 28.XI.2010, 3 males; idem, 5 .111.2011, 1 fe- 112 Ivan Rapuzzi & Ignazio Sparacio 10 . 5 - 10.2 9 . 9 - 9.6 I =:■ GO w 7.75 7.50 7 25 - 7.00 6.75 Elytra Width (EW) i » i i > Calabria Messina Sicily 18 . 0 - 17 . 5 - 17 . 0 - 16 . 5 - 16 . 0 - Elytra Length (EL) * c > i .b < a J > Calabria Messina Sicily Pronotum Width (PW) r \_r > i b ► a * > 6.0 5.8 - 6 6 - Pronotum Length (PL) * * * * > Calabria Messina Sicily Calabria Messina Sicily Figure 7. Comparison of means, and confidence intervals (95%) among the three popultions for the four variables examined. For the variables selected by discriminant analysis (PW and EL) are shown the values of significance in multiple compar- isons. PW: Messina/Calabria t = 3.211**; Sicilia/Calabria t = 7.426***; Sicilia/Messina t = 4.772***. EL: Messina/Calabria t = 2.412*; Sicilia/Calabria t = 8.520***; Sicilia/Messina t = 6.983***. male (SC); Magnisi, 28.XI.2010, 2 males and 1 fe- male (SC); Palazzolo Acreide, 5 .111.20 1 1 (SC); Vizzini, 14.11.2015, 1 male (SC). Messina . Nebrodi Mts., North from Capizzi, 1250 m, 23 .VII. 1991, 1 male (RC). Discriminant analysis. We also made a biome- tric study on 30 male specimens of C. morbillosus alternans from Sicily, with the exception of the north- easternmost regions, 16 male specimens of C. mor- billosus bruttianus from Southern Calabria and 26 males attributed to C. morbillosus bruttianus from Messina surroundings. The following measures were examined: pronotum width (PW), pronotum length (PL), elytra width (EW), and elytra length (EL). In figure 6 are shown the graphs of the rela- tionships between length and width of elytra and pronotum for the three populations. Our findings showed significant results when comparing C. mor- billosus alternans and C. morbillosus bruttianus (Calabria and Messina); whereas slight differences were observed between the two populations of C. morbillosus bruttianus from Calabria and Messina. In order to identify which one of the four morphometric characters used allows to distinguish the three populations of C. morbillosus it was used the discriminant functions analysis. Variable selec- tion was done by the "Forward stepwise". The res- New taxonomic data on Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera Carabidae) 113 ulting model shows a discriminating value not high but still significant (Wilks' Lambda: 0.4107060 approx. F (4.136) = 19.05342; p <, 0000). Variables selected from the analysis are: EL and PW. Partial lambda values (0.761599 and 0.932681, respect- ively) indicate that EL followed by PW have the most discriminating power among the three popu- lations examined. The analysis produced two linear functions, Rootl and Root2, the first appears negat- ively correlated mainly with “elytra length” and, to a lesser extent, with “pronotum width” (Table 1) and discriminates the population of Calabria from that of Sicily (Table 2). The second is negatively correlated with pronotum width (Table 1) and, although possess a low discriminatory power, partially contributes to distinguish the population of Calabria from that of Messina (Table 2). In addition, the Mahalanobis distance between the centromeres of the three populations, although it is significant for all comparisons, shows high values only between Calabria and Sicily (Mess- ina/Calabria 1,116 *; Sicily/Calabria 8,004 ***; Si- cily/Messina 3,673 *** . (P: *** < 0.001; ** < 0.01; * < 0.05). The classification matrix (Table 3) shows that more than 70% of the specimens from Messina and the rest of Sicily are properly classified, while this percentage drops to around 56% for specimens from Calabria. To assess whether the averages of each of the two variables identified with the discriminant ana- lysis significantly differ among the three popula- tions, it has been carried out the analysis of variance (Fig. 7). Multiple comparisons were performed with the correction of Turkey. For both characters ANOVA was significant (pronotum width: Df = 2/62, F = 23.61, P 5 cryptic species inferred to be present within a taxon curren- tly treated as a single species) are listed in Table 2. The taxonomic complexity revealed by this study is probably nothing more than the tip of a huge iceberg of species diversity in the annelids. Most of the ciyptic diversity discovered to date in poly- chaetes is still formally undescribed, one of the few exceptions being the five species of Archinome listed in the Table. Impressive are the results of some studies focus- ing on individual genera, where a systematic use of barcoding procedures has revealed an astonishing diversity of species, morphologically very uniform, 126 Alessandro Minelli as in some amphipods living in desert spring of the southern Great Basin of California and Nevada, USA, where 33 ‘provisional species’ have been recognized within a clade hitherto referred to the one species, Hyalella azteca Saussure, 1858 (Witt et al., 2006). A cornucopia of cryptic species, to use the words of the authors (Winterbottom et al., 2014) has been discovered in a DNA barcode analysis of the gobiid fish genus Trimma. Here, 473 specimens initially assigned to 52 morphological species revealed the presence of 94 genetic lineages sep- arated by a sequence divergence usually typical of inter- rather than intraspecies differences. To a quite smaller extent, but still worth men- tioning here, new species are still being described at a sensible rate even in groups such as mammals, where a long tradition in taxonomy could be expec- ted to have adequately accounted for extant species diversity. Taxonomic unrest is obviously larger in species-rich clades such as rodents or bats. For example, several new species of the bat genus Miniopterus have been recently described from Madagascar and the neighbouring Comoros archipelago, and at least seven out of the 18 species-level taxa recognized in the most recent study still require formal taxonomic treatment (Christidis et al., 2014). TESTING THE BARCODE “In 2003, Paul Hebert, researcher at the Univer- sity of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, proposed “ DNA barcoding” as a way to identify species. Barcoding uses a very short genetic sequence from a standard part of the genome the way a supermarket scanner distinguishes products using the black stripes of the Universal Product Code (UPC). Two items may look very similar to the untrained eye, but in both cases the barcodes are distinct. [. . .] The gene region that is being used as the standard barcode for almost all animal groups is a 648 base-pair region in the mi- tochondrial cytochrome c oxidase 1 gene (“COl ”). COI is proving highly effective in identifying birds, butterflies, fish, flies and many other animal groups. COI is not an effective barcode region in plants be- cause it evolves too slowly, but two gene regions in the chloroplast, matK and rbcL, have been approved as the barcode regions for plants.” This is the way this technique is described, in very simple terms, in the official Barcode of Life website http://www.barcodeoflife.org/. During the last few years, DNA barcoding has become a popular method for the identification of species. How efficient and reliable is it? The ques- tion can be reasonably asked in respect to groups and areas for which an exhaustive taxonomic treat- ment was already available, based on morphology, and the recent barcoding effort has covered a large percentage of the species recognized thus far. In the case of insects, most published DNA bar- coding studies focus on species of the Ephemerop- tera (Ball et al., 2005; Stahls & Savolainen, 2008), Trichoptera (Zhou et al., 2011), Lepidoptera (deWaard et al., 2009; Hausmann et al., 2011a, 2011b; Strutzenberger et al., 2011), Hymenoptera (Smith & Fisher, 2009; Zaldivar-Riveron et al., 2010) and Coleoptera (Raupach et al., 2010, 2011; Greenstone et al., 2011; Astrin et al., 2012; Woodcock et al., 2013). Raupach et al. (2014) have recently tested the efficiency of DNA barcoding for the Heteroptera of Central Europe. Based on a conventional quant- itative threshold currently accepted as a minimum molecular difference between two species, they found that species identification based on barcod- ing sequences is correct in a 91.5% of cases. In 21 cases, the molecular distance between two tradi- tionally accepted species is lower (in ten cases, actually zero). To the contrary, intraspecific dif- ferences larger than the conventional species-level threshold have been found for 16 species tradi- tionally regarded as valid. These results suggest that the barcode cannot be blindly accepted as a tool that allows quasi-automatic identification of all species, but at the same it turns to be a useful tool to discover taxa, or groups of closely related taxa, that are in need of in-depth revision. In particular, Raupach et al.’s study has provided evidence for ongoing hybridization events within various genera (e.g. Nabis, Lygus, Phytocoris ) as well as the putative existence of cryptic species, e.g. within the aradid Aneurus avenius (Dufour, 1833) and the anthocorid Orius niger (Wolff, 1811). Much larger success was obtained by Huemer et al. (2014) in the identification via barcode of 1004 species of Lepidoptera shared by two European countries, Austria and Finland, ca. 1600 km apart. Correct identification was possible for Taxonomy faces speciation: the origin of species or the fading out of the species? 127 98.8% of the taxa. However, deep intraspecific divergence, larger than the conventional threshold accepted as separating intra- from interspecific dif- ference, was detected in as many as 124 taxonomic species hitherto recognized based on morphology. Authors concluded that despite the intensity of past taxonomic work on European Lepidoptera, nearly 20% of the species shared by Austria and Finland require further work to clarify their status. The information obtained by systematically applying the barcoding method to groups for which traditional taxonomy is inadequate has different consequences. For example, this technique has been applied to the biting midges (Ceratopo- gonidae) of the county of Finnmark in northern Norway. Results indicated the presence of 54 species, of which 14 likely new to science, 16 new to Norway, and one new to Europe (Stur & Borkent, 2014). Another study involved a New World genus of Curculionidae ( Conotrachelus ). Two sets of specimens were compared, those emer- ged from some 17 500 seeds collected in six Central American rain forests and those collected in the same forests using interception traps that capture flying insects. Barcoding data suggested the presence of 17 species in the trapped samples, and 48 species among the specimens obtained from the attacked seeds. Tittle hope to use previous knowledge to identify them, however, as the barcoding of representatives of 24 species from museum collections provided matches for only three of the 1 7 species from the traps and no match at all for the putative 48 reared species (Pinzon- Navarro et al., 2010). Overall, barcoding methods have proven much less informative for plants than the results obtained from animals would have allowed to hope. A near complete failure has been a study on willows ( Salix ) species, using two to seven plastid genome regions. Of the 7 1 Holarctic species in that study, only one has a unique barcode (Percy et al., 2014)! THEORY-DRIVEN SPECIES INFLATION This legitimate, welcome progress in the appre- ciation of species diversity in lesser investigated groups contrasts, to some extent, with a recent pro- liferation of ‘new species’ proposed by some au- thors in a revisitation of the taxonomy of popular mammal clades such as carnivores and ungulates. The theoretical background advocated by the zoologists responsible for this ‘taxonomic inflation’ is the phylogenetic species concept, according to which any arguably monophyletic and practically diagnosable lineage deserves to be considered (and eventually named) as a distinct species. With the increasing use in taxonomy of molecular techniques (e.g. barcoding), finding a differential trait between two populations, e.g. a single nucleotide difference, has become all too easy. A first application to mammals of the phylogen- etic species concept led Cracraft et al. (1998) to raise the Sumatran tigers to species status {Pan- ther a sumatrae Pocock, 1929) based on three dia- gnostic sites in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Shortly thereafter, Mazak & Groves (2006) added a third tiger species, the Javan tiger P. sonda- ica (Temminck, 1844), to the previously estab- lished P tigris (Finnaeus, 1758) and P. sumatrae. Similarly, based on mtDNA and their analysis of morphological diagnosability, Groves & Grubb (2011) distinguished three species of European red deer: Cervus elaphus Finnaeus, 1758 (West European red deer), C. pannoniensis Banwell, 1997 (East European red deer) and Cervus corsicanus Er- xleben, 1777 (Corsico-Sardinian and North- African red deer). Moreover, these are only a fraction of the total of 12 species recognized by these authors for the entire red deer/wapiti complex. Further examples of oversplitting caused by the applic- ation of the phylogenetic species concept include the 1 1 species of klipspringer recognized within one traditional species, Oreotragus oreotragus (Zimmermann, 1783), based on size differences and different sexual dimorphism, and the splitting of the mainland serow Capricornis sumatraensis (Bechstein, 1799) into six species (Groves & Grubb, 2011). Zachos et al. (2013), who are very critical of this trend in mammal taxonomy, acknow- ledge however that in other groups more than one species must be in fact recognized, as in the case of the African elephants (the forest elephant Loxodonta cy clods Matschie, 1900 and the savanna elephant Loxodonta africana (Blumen- bach, 1797); cf. Rohland et al., 2010), and the giraffe, within which six or more distinct species should be probably recognized (Groves & Grubb, 2011). 128 Alessandro Minelli Agamospecies Concept an operational, morphologically defined unit in organisms that reproduce asexually or by uniparental repro- duction (without fertilization) Cain (1954) Biological Species Concept a group of interbreeding natural populations, reproductively isolated from other similar groups Dobzhansky (1935, 1937, 1970), Mayr (1940, 1942, 1963, 1970), Mayr & Ashlock, 1991) Cladistic Species Concept a group of organisms bounded by two events of speciation or by a speciation and an extinction event Ridley (1989) Cohesion Species Concept the most inclusive group of organ- isms within which genetic and/or demographic exchange can occur Templeton (1989) Ecological Species Concept a set of populations isolated through occupation of a specific ecological niche Van Valen (1976). Evolutionary Species Concept an evolutionary lineage of popula- tions in ancestor-descendant relation- ship, that maintains its identity vs. other lineages so defined, and with its own specific evolutionary trends and historical destiny Simpson (1951, 1961) Genetic Species Concept the largest reproductive community of sexual interfertile individuals that share a common gene pool; or a field for gene recombination Dobzhansky (1950), Carson (1957) Hennigian Species Concept a reproductively isolated natural pop- ulation, or group of natural popula- tions, issued from the dissolution of a stem species in a speciation event, that ceases to exist for extinction or speciation Meier & Willmann (2000) Least Inclusive Taxonomic Unit a taxonomic group defined on the basis of apomorphies Pleijel & Rouse (1999), Pleijel (2000). Morphological Species Concept a community or a number of related communities, whose distinctive mor- phological characters are, in the opin- ion of a competent systematist, suf- ficiently defined to qualify it or them with a specific name Regan ( 1 926) Phylogenetic Species Concept - diagnosable version the smallest diagnosable grouping of organisms, within which there is a pattern of ancestor-descendant rela- tionship Cracraft(1983) Taxonomy faces speciation: the origin of species or the fading out of the species? 129 Phylogenetic Species Concept - a monophyletic group of individuals Rosen (1978), De Queiroz & monophyly version characterized by one or more auta- pomorphies Donoghue (1988) Phenetic Species Concept a set of organisms that are pheno- typically similar and that look different from other sets of organisms Sneath (1976) Recognition Species Concept a group of organisms that share a common fertilization system, or better, a Specific Mate Recognition System Paterson (1979, 1985) Table 1. A selection of species concepts, with short definitions, mainly in accordance with Bemardi & Minelli (2011) and Mallett (2013), and some key references. Concepts that specifically apply to extinct organisms (the Successional Species Concept in the two versions: George’s (1956) Chronospecies Concept, and Simpson’s (1961) Paleospecies Concept) are not included. Current taxon name(s) Inferred number of species Archinome jasoni Borda et al., 2013, A. tethyana Borda et al., 2013, A. levinae Borda et al., 2013, A. rosacea (Blake, 1985), A. storchi Fiege et Bock, 2009 5 Branchiomma spp. 11 Capitella capitata (Fabricius, 1780) 12+ Eumida sanguinea (Orsted, 1843) 11 Harmothoe imbricata (Linnaeus, 1767) 6 Leitoscoloplos pugettensis (Pettibone, 1957) 5 Marenzelleria viridis (Verrill, 1873), M. bastropi Bick, 2005, M. neglecta Sikorski et Bick, 2004, M wireni Augener, 1913, M. arctia (Chamberlin, 1920) 5 Marphysa sanguinea (Montagu, 1815) 5 Ophryotrocha labronica Bacci et La Greca, 1961 14 Owenia fusiformis Delle Chiaje, 1844 5 Palola spp. 16 Sabellastarte spp. 7 Scoloplos armiger (Muller, 1776) 5-6 Syllis alternata Moore, 1908 5 Table 2. Cryptic diversity revealed in some polychaete ‘species’ taxa by recent molecular investigations (data compiled from Nygren, 2014, Table SI). 130 Alessandro Minelli TRICKY SPECIES COMPLEXES Better investigated groups reveal a complexity of interrelationship within which any formal taxo- nomic arrangement is likely to remain provisional, or at least arbitrary. Species complexes are particu- larly intractable when the reproductive behavior of some of the forms involved deviates from the typ- ical biparental scheme. Exemplary in this respect is the complex of the European green frogs, which includes a number of hybridogenetic entities whose survival strictly depends on an uninterrupted availability of sperm from a closely related bipar- ental species, as in the case of the Edible Frog, i.e. the hybridogenetic Pelophylax lclepton esculentus (Linnaeus, 1758). This hybrid between the Pool Frog Pelophylax lessonae (Camerano, 1882) and the Marsh Frog Pelophylax ridibundus (Pallas, 1771) is fertile, but usually unable to produce balanced gametes of the two sorts, whereas it usually survives by female hybrids mating with males of one of the parental species, usually P. lessonae (e.g., Spolsky & Uzzell, 1986; Christiansen, 2009). Local conditions are indeed extremely diverse and are hardly amenable at a conventional taxonomic treatment. In Central and Western Europe the hybrid P. esculentus lives in sympatry with the parental species P. lessonae (LE-system), but there are also gamete-exchanging systems of P ridibundus/P. esculentus (RE) and P. ridibundus/ P. lessonae/P. esculentus mixed populations (RLE) (reviewed by Gunther, 1991; Plotner, 2005), and also rare all-hybrid populations (EE-system) repro- ductively independent of the parental forms (Graf & Polls Pelaz, 1989) but dependent for sperm on the presence of triploid individuals; the latter are obtained when diploid eggs produced by diploid hybrid females (LR) are fertilized by haploid sperm of diploid or triploid males (LR, LLR, LRR) (Arioli et al., 2010). The taxonomic treatment of uniparental organ- isms is generally difficult and controversial. Lin- naean species are quite pacifically recognized in some groups, e.g. in bdelloid rotifers, but in this group thelytokous parthenogenesis is a very old phenomenon and a number of largely fixed differ- ences among strains have been fixed, that allow recognizing species- and genus-level taxa around which there is not much dispute. Things are differ- ent in groups where parthenogenesis, or apomyxis, is a recent phenomenon and phenotypic differences between clonal strains are much more subtle and their taxonomic evaluation much more subjective. In the case of brambles ( Rubus spp.) and dandelions ( Taraxacum spp.) thousands of names have been introduced to accommodate slightly divergent phen- otypes at what some specialists consider the taxo- nomic rank of species. In many instances, however, uniparental reproduction is accompanied by vari- ation in ploidy level and/or by morphological and molecular distances comparable to those ordinarily existing between related bisexual species, or even larger. An interesting example has been recently illustrated by Marotta et al. (2014) in the freshwater oligochaetes of the genus Tubifex. Despite the occurrence of different reproductive mechanisms (biparental reproduction vs. thelytoky), many populations referable to this genus have been tradi- tionally classified as a single species Tubifex tubifex (Muller, 1774). Under this name, however, is con- cealed an unexpected diversity, as suggested by a careful karyological and molecular analysis of samples collected in just one limited area, the Lambro River near Milano. Alongside a diploid form, for which a distinct name ( T. blanchardi Vejdovsky, 1891) is available in the literature, the au- thors found several polyploid lines (3n, 4n, 6n), with karyological differences matching with large molecu- lar divergence in the 16S rRNA and COI sequences. It will be no surprise if this diversity will eventually emerge as just the tip of a still unfathomed iceberg. The identification of gene flow between related species is very important when taxa of economic and especially medical or veterinary importance are involved. Fontaine et al. (2015; see also Clark & Messer, 2015) have recently demonstrated introgres- sion in a medically important group of sibling species of Afrotropical mosquitos ( Anopheles gambiae Giles, 1902, A. coluzzii Coetzee et al., 2013 and A. arabiensis Patton, 1905) that differ in behaviour and thus in medical importance. Allele exchanges between these malaria vectors have been found to involve most of their autosomal genes, it is therefore possible that traits enhancing vectorial capacity may be gained through interspecific gene flow. SPECIATION Sooner or later, the taxonomist must confront the issue of speciation, traditionally a focal issue Taxonomy faces speciation: the origin of species or the fading out of the species? 131 in evolutionary biology, thus basically approached through the tools of population genetics. Even- tually, even the good practicing taxonomist who is happy applying Regan’s (1926) morphological species concept (cf. Table 1) is brought by the intricacies of his/her study material to admit how right was Darwin when he acknowledged that ‘Wo line of demarcation can be drawn between species ... and varieties' ’ (Darwin, 1859, p. 469). It is beyond the scope of this article to present here even a short summary of current awareness, and current debates, on the issue of speciation. The interested reader is referred to Coyne & Orr’s (2004) monograph, which is both a synthesis of modern understanding of speciation problems, a guide to older literature and a solid background against which to read the literature of the last decade. I will thus skip the traditional main issues, beginning with the geographic scenarios of spe- ciation (allopatric, parapatric, sympatric). I will only glean from the very recent literature some exemplary cases that show how cautious should be the taxonomist in front of the temporal and spatial change to which natural populations are subjected. The more we know about these aspects, the more critical should be our attitude towards a taxonomic delimitation of species. A first warning concerns the tempo of evolu- tion. An unwarranted generalization of Darwin’s depiction of evolution as proceeding through the gradual accumulation of changes happening at a very slow and essentially uniform pace led in the past to assume that a speciation event should take on the average some hundred thousand years or more. There is no reason, however, for us to expect that living nature adopts an essentially uniform pace of change. Indeed, we have now well-docu- mented proofs of very rapid speciation events, and also of extremely conservative species pairs whose remote splitting is concealed under an amazing degree of morphological stasis. As a consequence, the taxonomist must be cautious in inferring related- ness from morphological, ecological or biogeo- graphic evidence without the further support of molecular estimates of divergence times. Consider, for example, that the divergence between two species of amphioxus, both currently classified in the same genus, Branchiostoma floridae Hubbs, 1922 and B. lanceolatum (Pallas, 1774), has been estimated at 186-189 million years (Canestro et al., 2002), whereas the origin of the whole radiation of extant Brassicaceae (3709 species; Warwick et al., 2006) is probably not older than 40 million years (Couvreur et al., 2010; Franzke et al., 2011), and perhaps even younger, around 16 million years (Franzke et al., 2009). This can be compared to the 22.4 million years through which the hummingbirds (338 living species) have been apparently radiating from their last common ancestor (McGuire et al., 2014). Still very long times, indeed, if compared to the 100 000 years, or so, within which the cichlids of Fake Victoria have radiated into a species flocks of five hundred species at least (Verheyen et al., 2003; Genner et al., 2007). GENES INVOLVED IN SPECIATION Research on the genes more directly involved in speciation is attracting increasing interest, but convincing generalizations are still difficult to obtain. Problems in fixing the boundary between two closely related taxa that broadly, but not completely exhibit the character of distinct species are often due to the fact that some parts of their genome are more readily and extensively affected by introgres- sion, whereas other parts are much more resilient. A classic case - Carrion Crow ( Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758) vs. Hooded Crow ( Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758) - has been carefully investigated by Poelstra et al. (2014). These authors have found that only a small number of narrow genomic islands are not affected by gene flow. As mirrored by these birds’ livery, gene expression divergence between them is concentrated in pigmentation genes ex- pressed in gray versus black feather follicles. Despite its limited genetic basis, this trait is critic- ally important, however, as it affects mate choice and thus color-mediated prezygotic isolation. In pairs of stick insect populations adapted to different host plants and undergoing parallel speci- ation, Soria-Carrasco et al. (2014) found thousands of small genomic regions, most of which unique to individual population pairs, to be significantly diverging between populations. These authors have also detected parallel genomic divergence across population pairs involving an excess of coding genes with specific molecular functions. 132 Alessandro Minelli STABILITY OF SPECIES IN THE FACE OF INTROGRESSION While the existence of introgression between locally sympatric related species is well docu- mented in a large number of animals and plant species pairs, very little is known about the long- term effects of a gene flow continuing over centur- ies. A recent study of two widely hybridizing tree species, the white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) and Engelmann spruce (P. engelmannii Parry ex Engelm.) in western North America, suggests that these two species have a long history of hybrid- ization and introgression, dating to at least 2 1 000 years ago, nevertheless they still maintain their distinct species identity (De La Torre et al., 2014). The boundaries between closely related species are sometimes permeable in one direction only. For example, brown bear ( Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758) and polar bear ( Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774) are genetically distinct, but evidence of polar bear genes has been found in the brown bear population of the Admiralty, Baranof and Chicagof Islands off Alaska, whereas no evidence of brown bear genes has been found in the local polar bear population (Cahill et al., 2015). Another example of asym- metric introgression has been recently described between a pair of freshwater fish, the North Amer- ican darters Etheostoma caeruleum Storer, 1845 and Etheostoma spectabile (Agassiz, 1854) (Zhou & Fuller, 2014). HYBRIDIZATION Opportunities for hybridization between closely related biological species are not restricted to species pairs that have being diverging only in recent time, witness a fern from the French Pyrenees ( Cystocarpium x roskamianum Fraser-Jenk), a re- cently formed hybrid whose parental lineages diverged from each other ca. 60 million years ago, and are currently classified in different genera (Cys- topteris and Gymnocarpium) (Rothfels et al., 2015). Due to both climatic and biological reasons, hybrid zones are not fixed in space. Detailed evidence of moving hybrid zones has summarized by Buggs (2007) for the following pairs of taxa (nomenclature updated where necessary): MAMMALIA Cervus nippon nippon Temminck, 1838 - Cer- vus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758 AVES Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) - Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) Hippolais polyglotta (Vieillot, 1 8 1 7) - Hippolais icterina (Vieillot, 1817) Vermivora pimis (Linnaeus, 1766) - Vermivora chrysoptera (Linnaeus, 1766) Corvus corone corone Linnaeus, 1758 - Corvus corone cornix Linnaeus, 1758 Quiscalus quiscula quiscula (Linnaeus, 1758) - Quiscalus quiscula versicolor Vieillot, 1819 SQUAMATA Pholidobolus montium (Peters, 1 863) - Pholido- bolus affinis (Peters, 1863) Sceloporus tristichus (Cope, 1875) - Sceloporus cowlesi Lowe et Norris, 1956 AMPHIBIA Pseudophryne bibroni Gunther, 1859 - Pseudophryne semimarmorata Lucas, 1892 Triturus cristatus Laurenti, 1768 - Triturus marmoratus (Latreille, 1800) Plethodon glutinosus (Green, 1818) - Plethodon jordani Blatchley, 1901 OSTEICHTHYES Pseudorasbora parva (Temminck et Schlegel, 1846) - Pseudorasbora pumila Miyadi, 1930 INSECTA Heliconius hydara Hewitson, 1867 - Heliconius erato petiverana (E. Doubleday, 1847) Anartia fatima (Fabricius, 1793) - Anartia amathea (Linnaeus, 1758) Solenopsis invicta Buren, 1972 - Solenopsis richteri Forel, 1909 Orchelimum nigripes Scudder, 1875 - Orche- limum pulchellum Davis, 1909 Allonemobius socius (Scudder, 1877) - Allonemo- bius fasciatus (De Geer, 1773) Limnoporus dissortis (Drake et Harris, 1930) - Limnoporus notabilis (Drake et Hottes, 1925) Geomydoecus aurei Price et Hellenthal, 1981 - Geomydoecus centralis Price et Hellenthal, 1981 Taxonomy faces speciation: the origin of species or the fading out of the species? 133 CRUSTACEA Orconectes rusticus (Girard, 1 852) - Orconectes propinquus (Girard, 1852) ANGIOSPERMAE Helianthus annuus L. - Helianthus bolanderi A. Gray Mercurialis annua L. diploid - Mercurialis annua L. hexaploid Occasionally, the peculiar geographical distri- bution of a set of populations offers the opportunity to investigate different stages of an ongoing speci- ation process. This happens with the so-called ring species, where the two extremes, say A and E, of a series of progressively differentiated populations have recently come in contact but fail to interbreed. This happens generally when the whole complex is distributed, ring-like, around an inhospitable area, such as very high mountains, or an exceedingly arid area. Ring species are extremely rare in plants: recently, Cacho & Baum (2012) have presented the Caribbean slipper spurge ( Euphorbia tithymaloides) as the first example among the flowering plants. More numerous are the zoological examples, as summarized by Irwin et al. (2001). These authors listed seventeen examples where the populations at the opposite ends of the chain overlap without any sign of hybridization, or nearly so. In many cases the two extreme forms have been given distinct specific names, whereas in other cases taxonomists still treat all the populations involved in the ring as belonging to the same Linnaean species: one ex- ample, among a number of possible ones, of the danger of inferring evolutionary status from simply considering the current taxonomic status (i.e., the nomenclature) of a set of populations. Irwin et al.’s (2001) list includes a number of birds: Crested Honey-buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus (Temminck, 1821) and Barred Honey-buzzard P. celebensis Wallace, 1868; Herring Gull Larus argentatus Pontoppidan, 1763 and Lesser Black- backed Gull L. fuscus Linnaeus, 1758 (with some hybridization); Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula Linnaeus, 1758 and Semipalmated Plover C. semi- palmatus Bonaparte, 1825; Collared Kingfisher Todiramphus chloris (Boddaert, 1783) andMicrone- sian Kingfisher T. cinnamominus (Swainson, 1821); Eurasian Skylark dGw<7<2 arvensis Linnaeus, 1758, Japanese Skylark A. japonica Temminck et Schle- gel, 1848 and Oriental Skylark (A. gulgula Franklin, 1831); Greenish Warbler Phylloscopus trochiloides (Sundevall, 1837); Chi ffchaff Phylloscopus colly- bita ( Vieillot, 1817) and Mountain Chiffchaff {P. sindianus W. E. Brooks, 1880); Sulawesi Triller Lalage leucopygialis Walden, 1872, Pied Triller L. nigra (J. R. Forster, 1781), and White-shouldered Triller L. sueurii (Vieillot, 1818); Brown Thornhill Acanthiza pusilla (Shaw, 1790) and Tasmanian Thornhill d. ewingii Gould, 1844; Large Tree-finch Camarhynchus psittacula Gould, 1837 and Medium Tree-finch C. pauper Ridgway, 1890. The other taxa in the list are rodents (Deer Mouse Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner, 1845); Pocket Mice Perognathus amplus Osgood, 1900 and P. longimembris (Coues, 1875), a bee Hoplitis producta (Cresson, 1864), a group of butterflies Junonia coenia Hiibner, [1822] and J. genoveva (Cramer, 1780)//. evarete (Cramer, 1782)) and a fruit fly {Dro- sophila paulistorum Dobzhansky et Pavan, 1949). In the case of the salamander Ensatina eschscholtzii Gray, 1850, some hybridization between the end forms of the ring has been reported, and past but still recognizable hybridiza- tion has been found in the ring of the Japanese pond frogs Rana nigromaculata Hallowell, 1861 and R. brevipoda Ito, 1941. In still other cases, there is no reproductive isol- ation between the two, now overlapping, terminal forms of the ring; as a consequence, a hybrid zone is formed. The cases listed by Irwin et al. (2001) include birds Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans (Gmelin, 1788), Adelaide Rosella P adelaidae Gould, 1841, Yellow Rosella P jlaveolus Gould, 1837, Great Tit Parus major Linnaeus, 1758, a mammal House Mouse Mus musculus Linnaeus, 1758 and two millipedes Rhymogona silvatica (Verhoeff, 1894) and R. cervina (Verhoeff, 1910). Several ring species (putative ones as well as confirmed ones) have been extensively studied over the last few years. No wonder, the actual interrela- tionships among the involved populations are often more complex than in the simple model outlined above. For example, in the case of the Greenish Warbler Phylloscopus trochiloides (Sundevall, 1837) species complex Alcaide et al. (2014) have recently revisited the status, and the history, of the ring of populations distributed around Tibet. The two extreme, reproductively isolated forms co- existing in central Siberia are connected through a 134 Alessandro Minelli southern chain of populations showing a gradient of genetic and phenotypic traits. The authors demon- strate that the gene flow has been interrupted in the past at more than one location around the ring, whereas the two Siberian forms have occasionally interbred. Eventually, this little bird displays a con- tinuum from slightly divergent contiguous popula- tions to almost fully reproductively isolated species. RETICULATION Patterns of hybridization and introgression among closely related taxa take sometimes a reticulated structure. A recently investigated ex- ample involving the biogeographical history of the Eurasian species of Fraxinus has revealed the occurrence of an ancient reticulation between European and Asian species as well as other ancient reticulation events between F. angustifolia Vahl and F. excelsior L. and the other species of the section Fraxinus. Some of these events would have oc- curred during the Miocene, following climatic variations that may have led these species to expand their distribution range, eventually coming into contact (Hinsinger et al., 2014). SPECIATION REVERSED Incomplete speciation and ongoing gene flux between partially isolated populations may cause divergence to be stopped and even reversed. Well- documented cases of reversed speciation are, how- ever, very limited. An example has been described by Bhat et al. (2014) for the European whitefish Coregonus lavaretus (Linnaeus, 1758), of Lake Skrukkebukta in Northern Norway. 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Opportunities for an engineered conservation strategy Salvatore Nicosia Universita degli Studi di Palermo, DICAM - Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale e dei Materiali, Viale delle Scienze Ed. 8, 90128 Palermo, Italy; e-mail: salvatore.nicosia@ unipa.it ABSTRACT A fierce theoretical debate is ongoing about the human species’ existence itself being sustain- able for Earth and for living world. In the meanwhile cities, which are considered to concen- trate the mankind's ecological footprints, are steadily growing and gathering huge populations worldwide. This paper assumes that margins do exist to relieve man’s burden on Nature to some extent, and that, regardless of our general concept of the matter, these margins should be exploited. The focus of this note is on beneficial use of waste water and waste to spare new resources and to create filter areas close to towns or belts around them. A brief reference is made to some official declarations and indices published on biodiversity in anthropic environments, such as the one from UNEP. KEY WORDS Anthropic environments; Biodiversity; City planning; Resources; Urban Ecology. Received 28.12.2014; accepted 30.01.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, M ay 1 6th- 1 8th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION Exactly forty years have elapsed since the issue of the ever most popular synthesis of criticism to unrestrained use of resources (Meadows et al., 1974). Pressure and unbalancing actions on natural cycles have not relented yet; and much of them are debited to cities, the exemplar man-made environ- ment. It is documented that actually cities are steadily growing worldwide (WHO, 2014). The urban population in 2014 accounted for 54% of the total global population, up from 3 4% in 1 9 60; w ith all the related needs for areas, for every kind of supplies and for waste management. At least relieving measures are due and urgent, and some of them were envisaged as early as 1971 by Odum E.P. (1969) and by Odum H.T. (1983). It is still a matter of debate whether a urban ecology can exist, and, if it can, whether it obeys to the general laws of ecology or to its own special rules. Anyway, in a pragmatic approach at least some indicators and indices ought to be agreed, in order to give a transparent measure of the environmental benefits achieved trough certain actions. CITIES, MANKIND AND RESOURCES Historically, villages, towns and cities have been made by men for themselves - to develop broader and more free exchanges of goods, manpower and skills - to find customers for technological artefacts - to benefit of more qualified services; of medical care; of higher education - to build up wealth - to feel safer, etc . 140 Salvatore Nicosia Cities obviously use land that often formerly belonged to some other species. The ratio (covered area/people living in) can actually be lower in towns made of tall buildings than in sprawled ones; indeed, this was the concept of Le Corbusier and other architecture M asters. Denser tow ns, how ever, have less possibilities of growing orchards, veget- able gardens, firewood lands, fisheries, etc.; so they need to fetch resources from far, unless flat roofs are used to this purpose. The two arrangements can obviously coexist in different quarters of the same town (Fig. 1 ). Cities necessarily draw most of the resources they need from far; freshwater first. Figure 2 shows the orders of magnitude of the materials and energy exchanges of a middle capital town peopled by about 600 000, per annum. Is hardly possible that the used resources can be given back to their sources or original places or states. Restitution is usually not feasible because, for instance: water is drawn from higher elevation sources and discharged into lower water bodies; foodstuffs are partly simply eaten, partly discarded; energy is downgraded in its use. DOES URBAN CIVILIZATION NECES- SARILY THREATEN BIO DIVERSITY? COULD IT BE HELPFUL IN SOMEWAY? It is likely that diversity decreases where and when - a portion of a vital primary resource, e.g., high quality water, is diverted; - great amounts of secondary resources such as wastewater and organic matter, although treated, are discharged into limited seawater volumes; - nuisances like warming; lighting; noise; men’s stamping on, or walking through; traffic; navig- ation etc. advantage opportunistic species like rats, wasps, seagulls, ravens, magpies and drive away the most sensitive ones. Some blames to towns, however, appear still ill-founded. As for now it looks more an article of faith than a demonstrated and explained fact, that at sea the outfall of a constant - discharge sewer after treatment; or a storm sewer;would generate more harmful gradients of salinity and turbidity, than a river with its natural alternation of dry- weather flows and flood flows. Some positive effects that a well intentioned town can develop towards wildlife are: - Storing fresh water and, possibly, treated wastewa- ter, smoothening floods/droughts - Mitigating climate through managed green areas, leading to less ecological stress - Providing shelter to timid species - Pouring organic matter in oligo-trophic biotopes, resulting in an enhanced food pyramid. The debate on urban civilization against bio- diversity urges us to define - in a really scientific and consistent way - what the civilization could be like; how much of resources it strictly ought to require/use; and how bio-diversity is to be quantified (©suitable Indicators and Indices). The concept of integrating town and nature through filter ecosystems was enunciated and gradually better defined in the Seventies by Odum Figure 1. A historical walled town (left) with its circular gradient of buildings, green belt and surrounding countryside; a modern town (right) with regulated quarters planned for different functions. The town as a source of reclaimable water and materials. Opportunities for an engineered conservation strategy 1 4 1 Waste: 300 000 t Freshwater: 60 million cubic meters Foodstuff, diverse materials Energy: 720 000 MWhe + 54 10* meters methane (= 600 000 MWht) Low-temperature Energy Waste water: 50 million cubic meters w ith 2 600 1 nitrogen and 440 1 compounds Figure 2. The city of Palermo as a case-study: some major flows of materials and energy (civil uses only). Figure 3. Left: The reservoir Piana degli Albanesi (610 m above sea level) is a multi-purpose water source for uses in the plain of Palermo. Right: Example of heat losses in old-fashioned, low-tech town heating systems. Figure 4. Plume of suspended solids at the mouth of a river (left) and flowing out from an on-shore outfall (right). 142 Salvatore Nicosia E.P. (1969) and by Odum H.T. (1983). Naveh (1982) used the term techno-ecosystem to represent systems where technology and ecology are associ- ated. These are the realm of ecological engineering. Figure 5 suggests a possible application of these concepts. THE ACTUAL ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE A medium-large town can provide, to itself and to its surroundings, treated wastewater enough to turn a squalid channel into a 2 m 3 /s steady flow watercourse; or 100 hectares brownfield into a wetland. This benefit is not entirely free, since 1 m 3 treated wastewater contains the embedded energy of about 0.4 kWh; but most of this amount should have been expended anyway, just to meet the quality requirements at the discharge point. The same town can also provide to itself and to its surroundings 40 000 t compost: enough for 2 -f- 4 000 hectares soil being annually amended. What to do with such engineered ecosystems is to the environmental biologists’ expertise. Two vast chapters apart are those of green roofs and of underwater barriers laid for aquatic fauna breeding and growing. Green roofs can control urban climate; reduce and smoothen water runoff; give shelter and ecolo- gical corridors to animals and spontaneous plants, and more; provided that mechanical energy (usually drawn as electrical, actually) is supplied to lift stored rainwater from the underground reservoirs. Underwater barriers have been experienced, invest- igated and discussed too much for requiring treat- ment here . RESHAPING TOWNS AND SETTING THEM TO WORK FOR NATURE. INDICAT- ORS AND INDICES OF ACHIEVEMENTS Since urbanization is fundamentally changing the nature of our planet, preserving biodiversity on this new urban world requires going well beyond the traditional conservation approaches of protect- ing and restoring what we think of as “natural eco- systems,” and trying to infuse or mimic such elements in the design of urban spaces. After two official sources: CBD - the UN’s Con- vention on Biological Diversity; and the Working Group CBO - Cities and Biodiversity Outlook; “... unprecedented opportunities lie ahead in making urban expansion greener. Cities have a large Waste recycle facilities Water and waste-water treatment plants Groundwater recharge areas Playgrounds, parks civic amenity sites Civic allotments for vegetables and fruit-trees growing Wetlands and vast parks, wildlife- oriented Figure 5. A urban area featuring an inner and an outer ecological filter areas, plus one filter belt in between. The town as a source of reclaimable water and materials. Opportunities for an engineered conservation strategy 1 4 3 potential to generate innovations and governance tools and therefore can, and must, take the lead in sustainable development. Many of the opportunities can be found in nature based solutions, using ecosys- tems in novel ways to address some of the most pres- sing challenges, such as climate change, water and food security, and poverty relieving. The way forward involves reimagining cities as places of biodiversity, and as sources for unique valuable services, rather than only sinks that mark large ecological footprints .” After CB O (based at S toe kholm U niversity, SE), rich biodiversity can exist in cities; but it cannot be taken for granted that it will be the same as before urbanization. Habitat conversion often leads to the loss of “sensitive” species dependent on larger, more natural clusters of habitat for survival. Cities already represent in themselves a new class of ecosystems shaped by the dynamic interac- tions between ecological and social systems. There is a suite of “cosmopolitan” species, skilled gener- alists that are present in most cities around the world. The net result is sometimes termed “biotic homogenization.” It is still a matter of debate whether a urban eco- logy can exist, and, if it can, whether it obeys to the general laws of ecology or to its own special rules. Anyway, in a pragmatic approach at least some indicators and indices ought to be agreed, in order to give a transparent measure of the environ- mental benefits achieved trough certain actions. Among the indicators of diversity we will cite here the Singapore Index (SI), 2008. This is a self-assessment tool for cities to benchmark and monitor the progress of their biod- iversity conservation efforts against their own individual baselines. It comprises: a) the “Profile of the City”, which provides com- prehensive background information on the city; b) 23 indicators based on the guidelines and methodology provided. The scoring of the Index is quantitative in nature; a maximum score of 4 has been allocated to each indicator, and with the current count of 23 indicat- ors, the total possible score of the Index is 92 points. The year in which a city first undertakes this scoring program will be taken as the baseline year. The future applications of the index will be meas- ured against the baseline to chart its progress in conserving biodiversity. For 7 of the indicators, a statistical treatment will be applied to sample data sets coming from Figure 6. A possible ecological succession for derelicted land turned into wetland. 144 Salvatore Nicosia Figure 7. Left to right, clockwise: windrow composting; compost handling; plant germination. several cities, to ensure the scoring ranges estab- lished are unbiased and fair to a broad spectrum of cities of different characteristics, over a wide geographical range. URBAN ECOLOGY; GOVERNING BIOD- IVERSITY IN CITIES: A NOBLE COM- MITMENT OR A PURE DREAM? We have now to look at the frame within which the actions for a sustainable town are developed, in order to judge about the theoretical substantiation of them and to forecast how far the pragmatic approach outlined above can arrive. Among the optimistic sources we are quoting here a statement from CBO: “ There is a need far redefining the role of cities so that they increasingly provide stewardship of marine, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems elsewhere. Developing the concept of nature based - solutions entails exploring a deeper dimension of how attributes of ecosystems, such as diversity, modularity and redundancy may be interpreted, applied and used ’ . Another affirmative statement comes from Jari Niemela (1999): “ The question arises whether a distinct theory of urban ecology is needed for understanding ecological patterns and processes in the urban setting. The answer is no; however, due to the intense human presence approaches that include the human aspect are useful in studying urban systems ” . Collins et al. (2000) raise serious doubts and develop a strong criticism of these perspectives. For these Authors, in studying urban systems the intense human presence certainly obliges to approaches that include the human aspect; still, even such tentative integrated approaches could reveal themselves a dead way. Quoting the Collins’ words: “ From the perspective of a fieldecologist examining a natural ecosystem, people are an exogenous, perturbing force. Human beings - and especially their cities, seemingly so "artificial"- fail to fit neatly into eco- logical theory. People mobilize some nutrients and deplete others, produce pollutants, drive species extinct, promote the survival of others, change the composition of the atmosphere and alter land- scapes. In cities people create habitats that never before existed, divert water, increase temperatures and, by intent or by accident, manipulate the communities of other species found within city boundaries and beyond (...)”. Still after Collins and coworkers, “ We lack a method of modelling ecosystems that effectively incorporates human activity and behaviour. And the processes and dynamics within cities largely elude The town as a source of reclaimable water and materials. Opportunities for an engineered conservation strategy 145 ** COMPONENTS INDICATORS VARIABLES SCORE MAXIMUM ■ L\D.: ■ Diversity of ecosystems 'INI'.! t Diversity of 1ND.I » Diversity of ecosystems ecosystem; BASIS OF SCORING irvD.:i Diversity of ecosystems rationale for selec tion of INDICATOR HOW TO CALC IX ATT A) Eased on the estimation that INDICATOR realisticallv. nycttycan accommodation The number of natural ecosystems found in to about 10 natural ecosystems, within us a cm 1 saves an ladic anon of the (favors Number of na tural boundaries the scoriae would be MAXTMIM ran re of niches for native flora and fauna ecosystems found in the citv SCORE Since different ecomtem; are found in 0 point * 0 natural ecosystem l Native different geographical regions any 1 point * 1-5 ecosystems Biodiversity in sciennikallv acceptable tertetmil and WHERE TO GE T DATA 2 points - -L6 ecosystems 4 the City tninne ecosystems including fosests (tropical subtropical monsoon temperate FOR C ALC ULATIONS a points - T -9 ecosystems 4 points * 10 and more ecosystems lowland montane, primary secondary. Possible sources of data on lTND.:i etc ). mangroves freshwater swamp; peat sutural areas include swamp; natural grasslands mers steam: government aeenr.es m B) Baseline of 100 lake;, rocky shores, beach, mud-flats, sand charge of biodiveraty, cits- dunes sea zrsss beds, corals, etc . can be municipalities, urban C] Traffic hoe ssstem of increase, neutral computed in die calculation of this index p! arming agencies biodiversity ceitres. nature and decrease groups. uniseisittes. publications. etc Table 1. The Singapore Index (SI): example of the working tables: a local ecosystems inventory. producers; 1st order consumers producers; 1st order consumers Figure 8. Three types of heterotrophic system (the one upper left in every picture) and their relationships with the surroundings. Tapping of fossil fuels to feed mechanical farming makes the main difference between the three. 146 Salvatore Nicosia an understanding based on traditional ecological theories. For most [natural] ecosystems the overall calculation is fairly well balanced between inputs and outputs. Urban energy budgets [instead], dominated as they are by deliberate human energy imports and by losses via fossil-fuel burning, do not resemble the energy budgets of any other ecosystem on earth ” . Figure 8 is an attempt to depict this concept. CONCLUSIONS Much of the blame put on town ought actually to be put on the human way of life. We believe that man, as a second-level or vertex consumer, is by no means the only species on Earth whose life is heterotrophic, or that lives in crowded com m unities. It is true that his weaknesses (like the need for shelter and warmth and the inability to nourish himself of raw food) and his strengths (such as his unique ability to handle fire, and to make, build up and transfer knowledge, etc.) are peculiar. All this increases the singularities of mankind, but in our opinion does not entail any definition of supposed peculiar human ecological niches. The only fundamental difference that we see stays in that, that men are not innocent in their be- haviour, and ecological feedbacks to their actions are usually overbalanced by their obstinacy. Man- kind usually neglects or denies the biosphere’s response to its actions, and, if compelled, is more willing to force further than to ease. The renounce to such unjustified self-exemption from taking feed- backs into account; and a consistent commitment in respecting and saving the other species’ lives and spaces, even in towns, at least as a mitigation meas- ure, is the tribute that mankind still owes to Nature. The Author’s speech was dedicated to the luminous memory of Giovanni Falcone and Francesca Morvillo Falcone, and of the men of their escort. Fallen at Capaci, Palermo, May the 23rd, 1992. REFERENCES CBO - Cities and Biodiversity Outlook - Stockholm Resilience Centre. Stockholm University (SE). www.cbobook.org. Collins J.P., Kinzig A., Grimm N.B., Fagan W.F., Hope D.,Wu J. & BorerE.T., 2000. A New Urban Ecology - Modeling human communities as integral parts of ecosystems poses special problems for the develop- ment and testing of ecological theory. American Scientist, September- October, Volume 88, Number 5. Meadows D.H., Meadows D.L., Randers J. & Behrens W.W.III, 1974. The Limits to Growth: A Report for the Club of Rome's Project on the Predicament of Mankind. Potomac Associates, Virginia (U.S.A.). Naveh Z., 1982. Landscape ecology as an emerging branch ofhuman ecosystem science. In: Advances in Ecological Research 12. Academic Press, London, pages 189-237. See especially Section D. Niemela J., 1999. Texts posted in the website ofUniver- sity of He Is in ki (SF) - D epartm ent of E nvironm ental Sciences (www. helsinki.fi/urbanecologyresearch/ m ember s/niem ela.htm ) Odum E.P., 1969. The Strategy of Ecosystem Develop- ment. An understanding of ecological succession provides a basis for resolving man's conflict with nature. Science, 164, 3877: 262-270. Odum H.T., 1 983. Systems ecology; An introduction. John Wiley and Sons, New York. WHO-OMS Global Health Observatory www. who. int/gho/urban_health/situation_trends/urban_ p op u la tion_gro w th_ text/e n. World Resources Institute, World Conservation Union, and United Nations Environment Programme - "Global Biodiversity Strategy", Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit 1992. http://www.cbd.int/authorities/ getting in volved/cbi.shtm 1. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 147-160 Monograph Pest management of citrus fruits in Sicily (Italy) through in- terventions of biological control. The example of the biofact- ory of Ramacca, Catania Giuseppe Greco Ente di Sviluppo Agricolo della Regione Siciliana (E.S.A.). via Liberta 203, 90 1 43 Palermo, Italy ABSTRACT Since 2007, in Sicily, plant health protection against citrus mealybugs is taking place through the Biofactory of Ramacca, in the Plain of Catania, a property of the Institute for Agricultural Development of the Sicilian Region (i.e. Ente per lo Sviluppo Agricolo, E.S.A.). The Biofactory is unique being aimed to produce industrial quantities of auxiliary insects and is a center of European interest because it is fully organized to provide means ofbiological fight imposed by the Directive 1 28/2009/EC, which requires, from 1 January 2014, farms to comply with the application of general principles of integrated pest management. In this paper we examine structural features of the Biofactory, breeding techniques empoyed and results obtained in the period 2007-201 3, which allowed many companies, from 200 to 360 ( i.e. 20% -35% of the regional surface operating in organic citrus production) to be able to employ biological weapons against pest insects. We analyze dynamics and results of production deriving from the approval and adoption, by the owner (E.S.A.), of a new "discipline" that governs the assignment of insects to farmers at a very low price to balance E.S.A.'s purposes, which is both to ensure adequate performance in order to pursue institutional support to agriculture and, considering the Insitute’s economic nature, to partially cover the production costs incurred to ensure the service. The continuity of the project is assured by the ongoing program for the period 20 1 3-2020 with an enlargement of the array of entomological production aimed at intercepting the needs of new productions (i.e. greenhouse horticulture, vines, ornamental and fruit trees). KEY WORDS pest management; biological control; Biofactory; Ramacca; Sicily. Received 05.07.20 1 4; accepted 12.10.2014; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd Interna tional Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 16th-18th 2 0 14, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION A biofactory (or commercial insectary) is a structure in which takes place the breeding of arthropods on an industrial scale, aimed at the production of living organisms to be released in large amounts into the environment in the context of techniques of biological control and integrated pest management. On the contrary, the insectary is a breeding realized for scientific purposes. The multinationals of chemistry have never seen welcome the birth of b io fa c to r ie s , because the organic product stands as alternative to the use of pesticides (Tremblay, 1988; Pollini et al., 1988; Goidanich et al., 1990; Flint, 1991; Grafton- C ard w ell & Reagan, 1995; Pollini, 1998;Ferrariet al., 2000, 2006; M asutti & Zangheri, 200 1; Muc- cinelli, 2006; Penny & Cranston, 2006). 148 Giuseppe Greco There are reports of a first biofactory already in 1916 in Santa Paula, California, the “Lim oneira Company”. In 1931, there were 16 and produced especially insects antagonist to citrus mealybugs like the coc cine Hid ClJptolaemUS montrOUZieri that is bred and successfully launched today. In Northern Europe biofactories are used for biological control in greenhouses: here the chemical control had shown its serious limitations in the effectiveness of and compatibility with healthy products. In fact, the glass or plastic covers are an insurmountable physical barrier for antagonists of harmful species, warming accelerates the develop- ment of both plants and pests, the collection of the products can not be reconciled with respect to the "waiting period" fixed by law between chemical treatment and collection and, not least, greenhouses turn out to be "gas chambers” for the farmers who w ork therein . A careless use of chemical products in agricul- ture with the aim to maximize the production has led over the years to a number of disorders that have resulted in considerable damage to the environment and to humans. Many chemicals have been banned and the defense of the plants has been oriented to the use of alternative methods equally effective and safeguarding the ecosystems (De Bach etal., 1969; Viggiani, 1 977; Chiri, 1 987; Walde et al., 1 9 89; Celli et al., 1991; Hoffmann & Frodshan, 1993; Luck et al., 1996; Murdoch et al., 1996; Ferrari, et al., 2000; Vacante & Benuzzi, 2004; So r ribas et al., 2008, 2010; Tena & Garcia-M ari, 2011). Figure 1. Biofactory of Ramacca, Catania, Italy, Institute for Agricultural Development of the Sicilian Region (E.S.A.). The first biofactories in Europe born in England and Holland around 1960 and, since then, have always grown both in number and in quantity of species bred and used. Today in Europe there are 26 biofactories with more than 30 species raised and excellent qualitative-quantitative standards. In Italy there are only two biofactories: the first (in order of construction) is in Cesena (1 987/90) while the second is in Sicily, in the Plain of Catania (Figs. 1, 2) in the territory of Ramacca (200 1 /03) (Greco 2014a, b). The latter is mainly distinguished by the quality and quantity of its products supplied aiming more at the diffusion of breeding techniques rather than for commercial purposes. Both biofactories serve an agricultural area which is considerably increasing in size, and achieve agricultural productions with the least possible impact on the territory, sustainable for the planet, whereas in other parts of the world, biolo- gical control has totally replaced chemical poisons. Yet here, in the Mediterranean, people are not deeply aw are of the benefits of this resource and the many solutions it offers, but the products of a biofactory are going to become even more relevant in the light of Directive 128/2 009 / EC establishing a framework for Community action to achieve a sustainable use of pesticides. This Directive was transposed into Italian law by Legislative Decree 150 of 14 August 2012. Since 1 January 2014, professional users of p h y to s an itary products (art. 19) should apply the general prin- ciples of integrated pest management required Figure 2. Biofactory of Ramacca, Catania, Italy: biofactory corridor. Pest management of citrus fruits in Sicily through interventions of biological control: the biofactory of Ramacca, Catania 1 4 9 among which is reported, as technical and funda- mental element, the use of biological means of struggle. EXPERIENCE IN SICILY, AT THE CENTER OF THE MEDITERRANEAN: THE BIOFACT- ORY OF RAMACCA In 1 996 the Sicilian Region has commissioned the Institute for Agricultural Development (i.e., Ente per lo Sviluppo Agricolo, E.S.A.) to study the possibility of implementing attive interventions of biological control. From that date until today E.S.A. carried out: 1) a preliminary plan for measures ofbiological control of Ceratitis CQ.pitQ.tCl (Mediterranean fruit fly) atregional scale, prepared in collaboration with the FA O / IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology L aboratory. 2) the planning of a biofactory alternative to the first one, to be built in Ramacca (Catania), aimed at the production of 3 species of insects beneficial to citrus cultivation {Aphytis melinus, Cryptolaemus montrouzerii , Leptomastix dactylopii) and 1 insect to be employed in horticulture. DiglipHuS iSQeQ Walker, 1 8 3 8 (H ym enoptera: Eulophidae). Actually, it was funded and implemented only the second project in which the biofactory of Ramacca is designed to be a flexible pole of pro- duction of material (insects) to be used in agricul- ture for most programs of biological or integrated control. For its start-up phase of production, have been considered, as reference, those crops that, more than others, are susceptible to these kinds of initiatives for their technical and economic charac- teristics: citrus and protected horticulturals. There- fore the biofarm has been designed and equipped for the production of: a) 3 insect species beneficial to biological control programs for citrus cultivation (Aphytis melinus , Criptolaemus montrouzerii , Leptomastix dactylopii)-, b) 1 insect used for integrated pest management of vegetables and flowers grown under cover ( Diglyphus isaea). The facto ry is located in the territory of Ramacca (Catania), Margherito district, on a total area of approximately 3.5 hectares that can be potentially increased and improved in case of changed conditions of the market. The biofactory is composed of: a) 1 shed of2,500 sqm (72 ml, 10.00 mix 34,30) which houses cells in a controlled and conditioned environm ent; b) 6 greenhouses, each of 100 sqm ca. (10.00 ml x 10.00 ml), five of which are used for the production of Diglyphus isaea and one for Lyri- Omiza (guest of Diglyphus), this latter room is placed at a safe distance to avoid contamination between competitors since both species are raised in purity. The 6 greenhouses are heated, to prolong the production season even in the coldest months (January and February), and equipped with an adequate irrigation system to allow the cultivation of bean plants in pots placed on anti-algae cloths; c) 1 office building of 350 sqm (ml 34.30 ml x 10.00 ml). The shed is composed of 36 rooms including cells, work rooms, service corridors, warehouse, workshop, toilets and trasformer room, central cooling and boiler. Cold storage and processing rooms are 28, divided as follows: 9 for Aphytis melinus-, 6 fo r Criptolaemus montrouzerii 4 fo r Leptomastix dactylopii 9 in common for Criptolaemus montrouzerii and Leptomastix dactylopii. BREEDING TECHNIQUES OF INSECT PRODUCTS IN BIOFACTORY Aphytis melinus De Bach, 1959 H ym enoptera Aphelinidae Aphytis melinUS (Figs. 3, 4) is a parasitoid of Aonidiella aurantii Maskell, 1 8 79 (Rhynchota Homoptera D ia sp id id ae ) , or California red scale, a major pest of citrus, but it can also parasitize other species such Diaspididae Aonidiella citrina (Coquillett, 1891) and AspidiotUS nerii Bouche, 1 8 3 3 (Flanders, 1 953; De Bach & Argyriou, 1 967; Abdelrahm an, 1974; Rosen & Eliraz, 1978; Rosen et al., 1 979; Fuck et al., 1 982; Orphanides, 1 984; Yu et al., 1986; Opp & Fuck, 1986; Reeve, 1987; Yu & Fuck, 1 98 8; Rodrigo & Garcla-Marl, 1990, 150 Giuseppe Greco Figure 3 . Aphytis melinus (Photo by “Centrale O rto fru ttic o la of Cesena, Italy). Figure 4. Climate cabinets with AspidiotUS nerii br e d on pumpkins for developing of Aphytis tnclinUS. 1992; Hare & Luck, 1994; Heimpel & Rosenheim, 1995;Tumminellietal., 1996; Gottlieb etal., 1998; Pekas et al., 2003; Pasotti et al., 2004; Rodrigo et al., 2004; Pina, 2007; Pina T. & Verdu M.J., 2007; Vacas et al., 2009; Vanaclocha et al., 2009). Agricultural use of the insect: A. tfieliflUS is launched at the adult stage and disperses easily in all the citrus grove, possessing excellent research skills. In citrus infected is good practice to make a winter treatment with white oil at 2-2.5%; this allow s to reduce, albeit only partially, the wintering population of the cochineal. The parasitoid is launched following a pattern that includes a series of consecutive launches after the flightdetection of cochineal males in late April-early May. When the plan of biological control is set up, in the first year are expected about 10-12 launches, 2/3 of which to be carried out in A p ril-M ay - Ju n e until mid-July, while the remaining 3 or 4 launches take place from m id - S e p te m b e r to throughout October. In the months of April, May and June, launches can be made every two weeks, moving on to a weekly frequency when temperatures increase. 8,000 to 1 2,000 parasitoids per hectare, for a total of 100 to 150,000 / ha for production season are launched. In 2-3 years the intensity of the pest is reduced so that is possible to reduce proportionally the number of lauches, limiting them exclusively to the spring- summer period. It is very im portant to pay attention to chemical treatments performed before and to those that will take place. Breeding techniques and production cycle in biofactory: breeding of Aphytis IfielinUS is made in climate cabinets, using the p arth e n o g e n e tic strain of Aspidiotus nerii bred on pumpkins. Pumpkins are kept in cells furnished with metal shelves; the environment of the cells is adjusted so as to have 13 ± 1 °C and 50 ± 5% RH; pumpkins are previously washed and disinfected. The production process has a duration of about 60 days, breeding is carried out in two areas: one for the multiplication of the host and one for the production of the parasitoid. Even the AspidiotUS nerii (host) is reared in cells whose furniture is made of metal shelving with lozenges. The nymphs of AspidiotUS are then collected and placed in a jar before inoculating other pumpkins. The environ- m ental conditions for the breeding of AspidiotUS are the following: temperature 26 ± 1 °C, RH 50% ± 5. At the 4 5th day, before the spill of nymphs, 10% of pumpkins are brought in the cells for develop- ment of AspidiotUS for harvesting nymphs to be used for the inoculation of pumpkins, whereas the remaining 90% is iplaced in plastic bins for the production of A. TUoUnUS. Pumpkins are put in contact with A. 1716 Un US for 2 4 h. The adults are taken after 24 h, blowing carbon dioxide to saturation. After inoculation, pumpkins can be placed in the two cells intended for the pro- duction deirA. melinus, air-conditioned to 26 ± 1 °C and 50 ± 5% RH. After 10-15 days, A. melinus newborn are collected after release of carbon dio- xide. Insects fall to the bottom of the cabinets and are put within cylinders where are measured volu- metrically. Adults collected are packaged in trays of 10,000 or 25,000 insects containing honey as Pest management of citrus fruits in Sicily through interventions of biological control: the biofactory of Ramacca, Catania 1 5 1 Figure 5. Leptomastix dactylopii Figure 6 . PlaUOCOCCUS dtri (Photo by “Centrale O rto fru ttic o la of Cesena, Italy). (Photo by “Centrale O rto fru ttic o la of Cesena, Italy). feed. Packages can be stored for a few days in the refrigerator ventilated at 15 °C. The production ratio is 1 : 3 . Leptomastix dactylopii Howard, 1 8 8 5 Hymenoptera Encyrtidae Parasitoid (Fig. 5). Endophagous of PlatlOCOC- CUS citri Risso, 1 8 1 3 (Rhynchota Homoptera P s eu d o c o c c id ae) (Fig. 6) (Chandler et al., 1 9 80; Tingle & Copland, 1 98 8, 1 989). The United States are its country of origin and its cycle in nature takes place on mealybugs, P. ficUS Signoret, 1 8 7 5, P. vitis Ezzat et McConnell, 1963 and, in laboratory conditions, spread also over other hosts. Natural cycle and agricultural use o f the insect: at 25 °C, and 75% humidity, the cycle of L. daC- tylopH takes about 21 days. Adults, 12 hours after the flicker, begin to mate. Females move on the pseudococcid colony seeking - measuring them by antennas - for the nymphs with appropriate shape and age where to inject the eggs (one for each victim). From each egg comes out a larva that, in 13 days, making three mutes and th rough four larval stages, becomes pupa, at first light in colour, then darker. After a week from 'pupation, the adult flickers. Particularly remarkable it is that the larva produces chitin and hardens the outer wall by an aeroscopic plate from which it breathes atmospheric oxygen. At the end of metamorphosis, by the chewing apparatus severs an operculum placed in anal position of the host and flickers. L. dactylopii is an insect yellow honey with three simple eyes. Its sizes range from 0.5 to 6 mm (11 an tenno meres). Males have longer and silky antennae with 10 antennomeres, females shorter and hairless (11 antennom eres). L. dactylopii is marketed at the adult stage and can be used on citrus fruits in com- bination with Criptolaemus montrouzieri and on ornamental plants infested by PlaUOCOCCUS dtri. Breeding techniques and production cycle in biofactory: the production cycle of L. dactylopii takes place entirely in climate cabinets. The host is P. dtri ( mealybugs) which is bred on potato sprouts etiolated in areas separate from those of the para- sitoid. For storage of potatoes are used cells condi- tioned to 5 °C and 50 +/- 5% relative humidity.The breeding cycle of the parasitoid lasts 9-10 weeks. In the first stage, are produced etiolated shoots of potato which, after 2-3 weeks, are infested with the citrus mealybug. When nymphs are ready, L. dactylopii is inoculated. After 20 days the adults are collected with aspirators and packed in jars of 100 individuals. Insects can be stored at 15 ° C, if well fed with appropriate diets. Cryptolaemus montrouzieri m u is ant, 185 0 Coleoptera C occinellidae Polyphagous predator (Hodek & Honek, 1 996. Milan Vargas, 1999) thatcan live at the expense of several P seu d oc o c c id s or even other insects (Figs. 7, 8). The adult measures about 5-6 mm has black elytra, while the head, chest, abdomen and 152 Giuseppe Greco Figure 7. Cryptolaemus montrouzieri (Photo by “Centrale O rto fru ttic o la of Cesena, Italy) extremities of the elytra are orange. At a constant temperature of 25 °C females live about 60 days and, during this time, lay 60 to 120 eggs. Eggs are located close to the cottony ovisacs of the prey so that and the young larva, just shelled, can easily reach its preferred food: eggs and young nymphs of the pest. The Coccinellidae larva goes th rough four stages before pupating (by attaching to a support) after which it becomes an adult. It has a waxy coating to camouflage itself onto the colonies of P. CltVl, but cannot be mistaken for its larger size and its mobility.The cycle from egg to adult lasts, at 25 °C, 35 days. It is an insect native to Australia and therefore sensible to harsh winters; it has already acclimatized in many areas of southern Italy and, in the islands, winters as an adult. Agricultural use of the insect: Cryptolaemus is sold at the adult stage. On citrus fruit it is used in association with Leptomastix daCtylopii e specially in the hotbeds of infestation, which are out of control of the parasitoid. In the field, it is employed from June up to August (3 months). Cryptolaemus could be used also on ornamental crops in green- houses or in potted plants; on this item, it is devel- oping an interesting market in northern Europe. The production cycle of Cryptolaemus takes place entirely in climate cabinets. The host is P. citri ( mealybugs) which is bred in purity on etiolated shoots of potato in a separate room. As P. dtri is used as host also by LcptOIflClStix, room s designated for P. dtvi production are used for both insects. Figure 8. Larvae of Cryptolaemus montruozierii on potato sprouts infested by PlttnOCOCCUS citVl. In particular, in a section of the biofactory, there are cells for the storage of potatoes (at 13 °C and 60% RH); and in another section, cells for the development of the tubers and, still, other cells for the development of P. dtvi (at 25 °C and RH of 60 ± 5%) that will serve to feed both the auxiliaries ( Leptomastix and Cryptolaemus ) . In another area of the building there are cells for development of P. dtri, cells for collection of Cryptolaemus and processing room s. The breeding cycle of predator lasts 10-13 weeks. In the first ph ase P. dtri is bred in purity on etiolated sprouts of potato. In breeding cells, potatoes are made germinate in the dark for 2-3 weeks; the shoots are infested with P. dtri and the infestation is let to develop for 3-4 weeks; finally there is the inoculum with Cryptolaemus. Adults, collected after 35 days with vacuum cleaners, are packaged in cans from 100 to 200 units. They are then counted volumet- ric ally . Insects can be s to red at 15 ° C, even up to a month if well fed with an appropriate diet. MANAGEMENT BIOFACTORY In 2006, the managing of the biofactory of Ramacca began with the finding of the head- breeding strains (Aphytis melinus, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Leptomastix dactylopii and Diglyphus ISaea ) and of interm ediate entomological m ate rials (. Aspidiotus , Planococcus , Liriomyza , etc.) of which such insects are parasitoids or predators. As planned, entomological breeding aimed, from the Pest management of citrus fruits in Sicily through interventions of biological control: the biofactory of Ramacca, Catania 1 5 3 beginning, at the production of Aphytis lUelUlUS, Leptomastix dactylopii and Cryptolaemus mon- tWUZien. At first it was even started a production of DiglyphliS isciea (greenhouse parasitoid on Livi- omyza trifolii , L. bryoniae and L. huidohernsis ) then abandoned because of the uneconomic production cycle. Until 2011 the entomological material was distributed free to farmers th rough per ip heral com- panies belonging to E.S.A. (i.e. SOPAT, Offices for the A ntiparasitic Fight) and to the Department of Agriculture and Forestry (SOAT, OMP). The criteria developed by the Administrative Department of biofac to ry included a distribution of the product to farmers cultivating citrus, to organic or converting to organic farms, and to farms that apply and implement criteria of integrated pest man- agement, according to a programming technique agreed with local Institutes that provide agricultural technical assistance (ESA, SOAT and the Office of Agriculture and Forestry). The reaching of full production was expected by the third year (29 March 2009), during which it has been programmed the full activity of the building with the following annual production levels: Aphytis melinus 6 7,200,000 individuals; Cryptolaemus montrouzieri 350,000 individuals; Leptomastix dactylopii 1,0 0 0,0 0 0 individuals; Diglyphus isaea 1,9 0 0,0 0 0 individuals. Data management in the period 2006-2011 During the period 2006-20 1 1 (Fig. 9), insects have been distributed free to regional farms and other applicants who had a purpose in the public in- terest, including regional and national Universities, Trends observed in citrus treated with insects of the Biofactory of Ramacca in 2006-2011 4.000 3500 t 3.000 | 2 500 M 2.000 1.500 1.000 500 orange groves lemon groves mandarin groves clementines groves c EH □ 2006 R 2007 □ 2008 □ 2009 ■ 2010 □ 2011 Number of farms, by size classes, that used Leptomastix dactylopii in 201 1 y E s_ £ o o 80 60 40 20 010 Size classes (in hectares) Number of launches of Leptomastix dactylopii car lied out by the companies served by the biofactory, grouped by size classes. Data processing 2(11 1 No, of launches Size classes (in hectares) Figure 9. Data management in the period 20 0 6- 201 1 (Source E.S.A.). 154 Giuseppe Greco Regional Departments, Development Services, Institutes or Development Agencies of other Italian regions. M axim um productions were distributed in 20 10- 2011, mostly to citrus farms, for a total of more than 4,300 hectares distributed in 325-355 entities. Noteworthy, as for the 20 10-20 1 1 data, there is a significant increase in production ( + 50% compared to 2010), correlated with a stabilization of the “protected” area, amounting to 4,361 hectares (-28 hectares compared to 2010); the maintenance of the substantial number of seasonal launches can be explained by a kind of loyalty of the users who, in manifesting an appreciable degree of satisfaction, show confidence in using alternative means of organic production. Data management in the period 2012-2013 In 2011, it was suggested to apply a reduced price to Sicilian farms. This is to contribute to the costs of production that, every year, E.S.A. supports to ensure its performance. So it was approved and put into effect a new "Discipline" which regulates the sale of insects to farmers at a "price of contri- bution", in order to proceed, gradually, to com- pensate production costs. The "price of contribu- tion", which ranks, by definition, below the values of the free market, reconciles the needs of the Istitute, which has to ensure adequate performance in providing institutional support to agriculture, with its financial nature aimed to partially cover the costs of production. This regulation does not exclude the transfer of beneficial insects also in favor of other subjects, in different places (extra- regional) and, possibly, for different purposes (agricultural as well as commercial or public). In this case, the above mentioned constraints do not apply, so thatE.S.A. can set the products at different prices (to be considered net of shipping), commen- surate with market values. Application of new "Rules" recorded a drop in distribution in 201 2-201 3, and, during a period of 6 years of free distribution, it obviously resulted in a big change of the demand of the three species. A first effect of the new regime can be seen in the production levels of 20 12-2013. In particular (Fig. io), the amount of Aphytis melinus, Leptomastix dactylopii and Cryptolaemus montrouzieri - although often reached high profiles above those of feasibility - stood at levels significantly lower than those of2011,i.e. 139-149 million, 672-1766 thou- sand and 233-277 thousand individuals, respect- ively. In 2012, production reached 119% of what expected in steady-state c o n d itio n s ,(i.e . +19% ). Briefly, these results can be explained with a production trend that had to take into ac c o u n t u ser s ’ requests, which resulted in a change of strategies and productive quality (when possible) that af- fected, for example, the extent and availability of traditional raw materials to be acquired (potatoes, Observed production of Aphytis melinus compared with expected production 250.000 000 £ 200.000.000 -5 150.000.000 —♦—observed production t 100000.000 p ex per Ini prodiiclUm a Ji 4 1 50.000.000 2006 2007 2000 2009 2010 2011 sears Observed production of Cryptolaemus montrouzieri compared with expected production oWnnl prwbHrllwi rXprflrd JiiothirUnr years Observed production of Leptomastix dactylopii compared with expected production 6 . 000.000 w 5.000 000 S 4,000.000 B o 3.000.000 * 2.000 000 1 . 000.000 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2Qn years ■ observed prodnri ion expected production Figure 10. Development of production of Aphytis melinUS , Leptomastix dactylopii and Cryptolaemus montrouzieri than expected feasibility (Source E.S.A.). Pest management of citrus fruits in Sicily through interventions of biological control: the biofactory of Ramacca, Catania 1 5 5 var. “Spunta” and “Desiree” and pumpkins var. “ B u ttern u t”). Another cause is to be found in distri- bution fees, which were fixed in the absence of solid experience of huge productions and, therefore, of necessary and useful market information. F in ally, the price of each insect certainly influenced the users’ choise. For example the price / effectiveness or cost/utility ratio for Aphytis melinUS was con- sidered, by the regional users, more convenient than those fixed for CryptolaemUS montWUZieri and Leptomastix dactylopii. Profile of user companies in 2012-2013 Quantitative aspects of each entomological entity distributed to regional farms are of course also reflected on land statistics. In fact, Users (i.e. farms), primarily engaged in citrus cultivation, were more than 200 (213 to 298), for an area of at least 2,300 Ha. Just to quantify, 2,152 Ha of orange groves, 313 ha of lemon groves, 91 Ha of m andarin groves and 5 1 of clem entine groves took advantage from the service provided by E.S.A. The new payment system had a negative impact not only on the lemmon groves of Syracuse: also other citrus groves suffered a regression of land extensions which reached its peak in the areas planted with orange trees. It also follows, that the biological defense against the citrus mealybug, (P citri) and red scale (A. aurantu ) by Aphytis melinus, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri and Leptomastix dac- tylopii , decreased to 2, 4 41, 1,0 27 and 540 Has, re- spectively, Siracusa and Catania remain the provinces where biological fight is mainly per- formed, followed by an increasing number of far ms in Agrigento province. Hence it is indirectly con- firmed that the location of the Bio factory (Ramacca, Catania) is in line with the geographical distribution of its real users. The profile of the more than 298 farms that, in 2012, took advantage of the service of the Biofact- ory of Ramacca is best represented in figure 11. Companies that follow programs of integrated biological defense or integrated fight in citrus and benefit of the insects provied by the biofactory have predominantly a size less than 5 hectares (161, 48 and 27 farms can be listed for A. melinUS , L. daC- tylopii an d C. montrouzieri, respectively). M edium- sized companies were those that, in 2012, performed more seasonal launches of Aphytis melinUS w ith an average of about 3.8; but also the other companies showed average values (3-4 seasonal launches). For C. montrouzieri the number of launches is inversely proportional to the company size, ranging fro m ab o u t 1 for sm a 11 fa rm s to 0.6 fo r larg er ones. A sim ilar pattern was confirm ed for Leptomastix dactylopii w ith about. 0.8 launches for companies under 5 Ha and. 0.4 launches for larger ones. Average launches < 1 reveal a partial use of insects (for organic control) that, in these cases, are not employed on the entire surface of the citrus grove. The new payment system had an impactalso on the number of launches that, with reference to 2006- 2011 data, appear in decline. This could be due to a more parsimonious use of the “organic product” but also to a kind of “users’ loyalty” (i.e., farmers despite the new regulation, continue to show a certain degree of satisfaction). EVOLUTION OF SERVICE AND PRO- SPECTS FOR SEVEN YEARS FROM 2013 TO 2020. The last items briefly discussed in the previous paragraph, led E.S.A. to review the current huge production and proceed, after an initial experi- mental phase, to the diversification of production, to improve the bouquet offered. In this contest E.S.A. has already started a project that will be developed in the period 20 1 3-2020. In particular, the service aimed at breeding and producting huge quantities of Aphytis melinus, Criptolaemus montrouzerii and Leptomastix dactylopii is con- firmed, re-thinking of new production levels, based on all the variables mentioned before. Moreover, seven additional experimental activities have also been designed one for each year, to be held simul- taneously with the aforementioned base production, aimed at increasing the entomological list to be employed in other contests, as v itic u ltu r a 1, orna- mental and floricoltural. Each experiment involves the development of procedures for the breeding of the following auxiliaries (see below) to be per- formed, in proper conditions, for the production of huge quantities of insects. 1 ) Cryptolaemus montruozierii larvae (predators of P. dtri, citrus mealybug); 156 Giuseppe Greco Number of farms, by size classes, that used Aphytis melinus in 2011 Number of farms, by size classes, that used Aphytis melinus in 2012 SO 70 £ 00 * 50 tM (m 40 J. 30 = 20 10 010 Size classes (in hectares) 010 Size classes (in hectares) Number of farms, by size classes, that used Cn ptolaem us nwntrou zieri in 2(111 Number of farms, by size classes, that used Cryptolaemus montrouzieri in 2012 60 <*> 50 £ 40 £ 30 O O 20 £ 10 010 Size classes (in hectares) 2 50 s s 10 <2 <5 30 o s IS (KM 5**<1S >10 Size classes (in hectares) Number of farms, by size classes, that used Leptomastix dactylopii in 2011 Number of farms, by size classes, that used Leptomastix dactylopii in 2012 80 S 60 o o a 40 20 0*x<5 610 Size classes (in hectares) GA M s ■ ■s .. c o , >10 Size classes (in hectares) Figure 11 . Number of companies, sorted by size classes, th at used Aphytis fflclinUS, Criptolaemus montrouzerii and Leptomastix dactylopii in 2011 and 2012 (Source e .s .a .). 2) Chrysoperla earned Stephens, 1 836 (Neurop- tera Chrysopidae) predator of aphids (Benuzzi & Nicoli, 1988; Osservatorio agroambientale di Cesena, 1991; Nicoli & Galazzi, 2000); 3) Anagyrus pseudococci (Girault 191 5) (Hy- menoptera Encyrtidae) parasitoid of PldllOCOCCUS vitis and ornamental mealybugs, P. ficUS, Pseudo- coccus longispinus, Ps. affinis , Rhizoecus falcifer (Avidov etal., 1967; Rosen & Rossler, 1966; Islam & Jahan, 1993a, b;Blumberg etal., 1995; Islam & Copland, 1 997, 2000). 4) Encarsia formosa Gahan, 1924 (Hymenop- tera A phelinidae), parasitoid of w hiteflies as Tridleur- odes vaporarorium (Westwood, 1 8 5 6 ) (H em ip ter a A ley rod id ae); 5) Lindorus lophantae (Biaisdeii, 1 8 9 2 ) (Coie- optera C occinellidae) (generic predator of mealy- bugs, also active against Aonidiella aurantii) -, Pest management of citrus fruits in Sicily through interventions of biological control: the biofactory of Ramacca, Catania 1 5 7 6) OrilAS laevigatus (Fieber, 1 8 60) (Flemiptera A n th o c o rid ae ) predator of thrips (Tawfik & Ata, 1 973; Tavella et al., 1991; Villevieille & Millot, 1991; Chatnbers et al., 1 993; Vacante & Tropea Garzia, 1993a-b;Meir acker van den, 1994;Alauzet et al., 1994; Tavella et al., 1994; Frescata & Mexia, 1 995 ; Tom m asini & Nicoli, 1 995); 7) larvae of ChUoCOrUS bipUStlllatUS (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera Coccinellidae)(predators of Coccus esperidum (brown soft scale), Ceroplastes sinenesis (Chinese wax scale), Ceroplastes rusci (fig wax scale), SflisSCtifl olcUC (Black scale), Carnuaspis bekii (Purple scale), Aspidiotus blacks (Oleander scale), Chrisomphalus dictyospermi (Morgan’s scale), AoYlidlclla aUVantii (California red scale). 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Produzione massale e impiego dei principali ausiliari nella lotta biologica in orticoltura e agrumicoltura. Aracne Edit rice, Roma, 33 pp. W aid e S.J., Luck R.F., Yu D.S. & Murdoch W.W., 1989. A refugee for red scale: the role of size-selectivity by a parasitoid wasp. Ecology, 70: 1700-1706. Yu D.S., 1986. The interactions between California red scale Aonidiella ciurcintii (Maskell), and its para- sitoid s in citrus groves of inland southern California. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, River- side, 105 pp. Yu S. & Luck R.F., 1988. Temperature-dependent size and development of California red scale (Homoptera: Diaspididae) and its effect on host availability for the ec to p ara s ito id . Aphytis TYielinUS DeBach (Hymen- op t e r a : Aphelinidae). Environmental Entomology, 17: 154-161 . Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 161-164 Monograph Implantation of Stagg beetles hostels in the city of Geneva (Switzerland) Giulio Cuccodoro* & Mickael Blanc Museum d’histo ire naturelle, Departement d’Entomologie, route de Malagnou 1, 1208 Geneva, Switzerland Corresponding author ABSTRACT Brief presentation of our ongoing project of implementation of a network of “Stagg beetles hostels” in the city of Geneva (Switzerland) aiming at consolidating the last large populations of big woodboring beetles CerCllTlbyX Cerdo L innaues, 1 758 (Coleoptera C eram by cidae) and LuCCinilS C6WUS L innaues, 1 75 8 (Coleoptera Lucanidae) in Switzerland. KEYWORDS stagg beetles hostels; Geneva; woodboring beetles; LuCCMUS CerVUS; CCYCUTlbix C6rdo. Received 05.12.2014; accepted 1 5.02.20 1 5; printed 30.03.20 1 5 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6 th - 1 8 th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION The large woodboring beetles Cercimbyx CCvdo Linnaeus, 1 75 8 (Coleoptera C eram by cidae) and LllCCinuS cervus Linnaeus, 1 75 8 (Coleoptera Lu- canidae) are associated to oaks and beechs. Their larvae feeding on decaying wood take 3 to 5 years to develop into imagoes, which live only one Sum- mer and hardly disperse further that half kilometer from their native tree. In North and Central Europe, they can complete their life cycle only in trees big enough to protect larvae from the Winter frosts. During the 20th century their distribution has however drastically regressed due to intensive exploitation of those trees for timber as well as changes in agriculture techniques. Because of the large array of other useful and more elusive organism s benefiting of their favoured habitat (i.e. senescent oaks and beechs), they are considered ombrella species and received therefore protected status in Europe since 1992. In Switzer- land, where they received federal protected status only in 2011 (OFEV, 2011), they can be found today essentially in the southern part of the country, CerCUnbyX Cerdo with only sc arse populations in the cantons of Geneva, Valais and Tessin. Despite a limited and rather urbanized territory, the canton of Geneva has the privilege to host the most abundant Swiss populations of both of these emblematic beetles. Amazingly, they are essen- tially found in the hearth of the city itself rather than in the surounding countryside, where most old trees were cut in the early 20th century for tim- ber and adaptation of the landscape to mechanized agriculture. Renewal of suitable natural habitats better distributed in space and time in the countryside is a matter of several decades. Meanwhile, as falling branches put citizens and other park’s users at risk, senescenth oaks and beechs in town are gradually cut and removed. Asa result, despite their apparent abundance in the city of Geneva, these urban popu- lations of large wood-boring beetles are each day less abundant and more fragmented, in such a way that their disapparition seems programmed if nothing is attempted today. 162 Giulio Cuccodoro & Mickael Blanc MATERIAL AND METHODS We thus decided to try to consolidate the urban populations of these protected beetles by promoting in the city of Geneva the set up of a network of “stagg beetles hostels”. Already implemented successfully in several other places elsewhere in Switzerland and Europe, « woodboring beetles hostels» consist basically in 1 meter long logs half buried in the ground recreating artificially the appropriate conditions for female oviposition and subsequent developpem ent of the larvae. However installation of such large and lasting structures in the heart of a densely urbanised city faces various technical and social problems. In first instance stagg beetles hostels are more cumbersome than birdhouse: they require several square meters of land, should remain over a decade to be really efficient, and as such mustbe installed only in close concertation with all relevant city services (urban- ists, gardeners, maintenance, etc.). Therefore we dedicated a lot of time and energy explaining urban- ists, gardeners and maintenance workers that stagg beetles hostels were as necessary as easy to build, but moreover that they consist indeed in an inev- itable new element of the urban furniture of the Geneva of the 21th century. Second and certainly mostchallenging problem is that most citizens perceive insects as a nuisance, a source of danger (punctures, vectors of diseases) or as revelators of defective sanitary conditions. Lucanus Scopoli, 1 763 and CevCDTlbyX Linnaeus, 1 75 8 unfortunately don’t escape this “rule”, which is even exacerbated by their quite impressive size in such a way that they are often mistaken as dreadful exotic beasts fallen off a plane from Africa or elsew here. Therefore we accompanied our project from the beginning with a real campaign for « social rehab- ilitation » of these large woodboring beetles. In first instance we made a call to the citizens for observa- tions in the frame of a participatory inventory aiming at 1) bringing presence of these beetles to the knowledge of citizens, 2) teaching to recognize them, 3) explaining they role, 4) drawing attention to their patromonial status and the responsibility of Geneva citizens regarding their respect and protec- tion, and 5) offering people the possibility to con- tribute directly to this issue by the transmitting their own observations. Besides we took every opportunity to talk to school classes and publish in daily newspapers small articles declining these thema. A WEB page specially dedicated to that project and relaying per- manently our call for observations was also created (www .ville-ge.ch/m hng/coleopteres_bois_geneve.php). RESULTS It took some two years from the origin of our project in 2011 to the construction of the first stagg beetle hostel in Geneva, which was achieved on the 17th of April 2013 by gardeners of the city of Geneva assisted by childrens. Installed at the foot of three big senescent oaks colonized by both Cerambyx and Lucanus in the “Parc La Grange”, the most scenic and visited pare of the city of Geneva, this Stagg beetles hostel is agremented with a graphic pannel summarizing the biology, role and status of these beetles, with a flash code address- ing smartphone users directly to ourWEB page for further informations. The device was completed with an attractive giant oak LuCdUUS sculpted by a local artist aiming both at catching attention of the visitors and favouring perenniality of the hostel, which symbolizes to us the participatory involve- ment of the Geneva citizens for a more rational management of their environment. CONCLUSIONS This realisation will take all its meaning only if drawn in the future. In effect to modify the social perception of large woodboring beetles from the status of unwanted frightening pests to majestic useful animals being integral part of the environ- mental identity of the citizens will be certainly a long-term process. In this perspective participatory involvement of the public in a “continuous asses- ment” via regular calls for inform ations in the daily media seems very important to us. However it’s obvious to our eyes that the best way to accelerate adhesion rate to the cause of large woodboring beetles w ill consist in penetreting public education programs, and that from the earliest school classes. Nevertheless it appeared that once explained the environmental issues and technical feasability Implantation of Stagg beetles hostels in the city of Geneva, Switzerland 163 Figure 1. First Stagg beetles hostel of Geneva (Switzerland): co n s tru c tio n w ith ch ildre n . Figure 2. First Stagg beetles hostel of Geneva (Switzerland): sculpture by Sylvio Asseo. 164 Giulio Cuccodoro & Mickael Blanc Figure 3. First Stagg beetles hostel of Geneva (Switzerland) as completed (logs, sculpture, and didactic pannel). of the project, most professional actors of the city services concerned were enthousistic to contribute at their level to its realization. The best proof we can present is that additional 7 stagg beetles hostels have been installed by the gardeners in other parks of the city in 2014, and more are planned for 2015. Next steps will be to increase the density the network of stagg beetles hostels with a target of one each 300 m in order to enhance gene flows between each individual population, then to imple- ment corridors of stagg beetles hostels favoring natural dispersal of these beetles through the suburban crown toward the country side they used to belong. Meanwhile we already work with fore- stal autorities in order to promote the plantation of oaks and beeches in the contryside with a better scaling in space and time of suitable habitats for these magnificent insects. The project received the “Geneva cantonal award forsustainable developmentedition 2014”. REFERENCES OFEV, 2011. Liste des especes prioritaires au niveau national. Especes prioritaires pour la conservation au niveau national, etat 2010. Office federal de 1 ’ en- viron n e m e n t. L ’ e n v iron nement pratique n ° 1 1 0 3 , 132 pp. CEE, 1 992. Directive 92/43/CEE du Conseil, du 21 mai 1992, concern ant la conservation des habitats naturels ainsi que de la faune et de la flore sauvages. CEE. Journal officiel n° L 206 : 0007-0050. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 165-170 Monograph Requalification of coastal plant landscape of South-Eastern Sicily, Italy: the case of Marina di Priolo Angelo Zimmitti 1 , Rosaria Mangiafico 2 & Pietro Pitruzzello 3 * 'Via Garibaldi 2 1, 96010 Melilli, Syracuse, Italy ! A ssociazione Anteo, via Concerie 52, 96010, Syracuse. Italy Universita degli Studi di Catania, Cutgana, Polo Biotecnologico via Santa Sofia 98, 95123 Catania, Italy Corresponding author, e-mail: p itr u z z e llo p iero @ gmail.com. ABSTRACT In this paper the A uthors examine the psarn m ophilous vegeta ti on and the degrees ofnaturalness of the coastal plant landscape of a part of the South-Eastern littoral in Sicily. This area is char- acterized by considerable human pressure due to the presence of a large industrial center and beach tourism. The recent construction of the garden next to the beach, made mainly with ornamental plants has contributed to further amend the original physiognomy of the coastal landscape. Were analyzed, with phy to sociological me thod, psamm ophilous plant com m unities and zonation of vegetation. The results of the analysis show a impoverishment of flora and a progressive decline in the psam m ophilous communities mainly due to the constant leveling the beach in summer. The authors propose a series of actions aimed at the requalification and conservation of coastal vegetation landscape of the investigated area. KEY WORDS plant landscape; re q u alific a tio n ; littoral; human pressure. Received 15.10.2014; accepted 30.01.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, M ay 1 6 th - 1 8 th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION In the present work we analyzed the plant land- scape of M arina di Priolo, a stretch of sandy coast between Marina di Melilli and Magnisi peninsula, about 6 km north of Syracuse (Sicily, Italy) (Fig. 1). In a not too distant past the area was used for the production of salt in the salt marshes of Magnisi, placed in a large basin behind the dunes adjacent to the study area. A lthough reduced from its original e x ten t, this im p o rta n t hum id e n v iro n mentis p rote c - ted through the establishmentofthe R.N.O. "Saline di Priolo" managed by the L.I.P.U. (D.A. n. 807/44 of 1 2/2 8/2000). Since the 50s of last century, the area has undergone significant environmental change mainly due to the progressive establishment of one of the largest petrochemical industrial cen- ters of Europe. The massive industrialization of the area has also led to the growth of urban centers and neighboring persistent anthropogenic coastal envir- onment that, in recent years, was also affected by the profound transformations related to the increase in to u rism . The recent creation of a green area called "Garden of the Sea", adjacent to the beach, consists mainly of ornamental species, some exotic, helped to further modify the original structure of the coastal landscape. The purpose of this research is the cognitive analysis of the dune environment, spatial seriation of psamm ophilous plant com- munities and their state of preservation. Based on the results obtained, we propose actions for the rehabilitation and protection of plant landscape of the site investigated. 166 Angelo Zimmitti etalii The area of study. From the perspective of geo- log ic a 1- s tr u c tu r a 1 the area of Marina di Melilli, Syracuse (Sicily, Italy) is part of the Hyblean Plat- eau and the local stratigraphic succession is repres- ented by ceno-neozoic carbonate rocks (Carbone et al., 1 9 8 6). Examining the th erm o - p lu v io m e trie data fro m th e n e arb y statio n of Syracuse, the dim a te o f the study area is Mediterranean, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers (Zampino et al., 1997). While, as evidenced by Scelsi& S p am p in a to (1 998) bioclimate is in the range inferior thermo- mediterranean dry type. MATERIAL AND METHODS The methodological approach used for phytoso- ciological study of the psam m ophilous vegetation is that of the Sigmatista School of B raun-B lanquet (B raun-B lanquet, 1964), while for syntaxonomical framing were followed proposals of Brullo et al. ( 2002 ). The collected samples were determined accord- ing to the Flora of Italy (Pignatti, 1 9 82 ), prepared and preserved in the herbarium of the Ecomuseo dei Monti Climiti Melilli (Laboratory of Nature and E n v iro n m e n tal) . RESULTS Despite the heavy distortions of anthropogenic nature, the investigations carried out m ade it possible to identify, in the least disturbed stretches of coast- lin e , d ifferen tcomm un itie s of psammoph ilo u s plan ts that, despite impoverished of m any typical elements, hint at some aspects of the original plant landscape and suggest effective conservation measures for the protection and rehabilitation of ecosystem s. Through the observations made could be detected, proceed in g from the aphytoic zone inland, a first strip of tero- phitic h alo nitro p h ilo u s vegetation, parallel to the coast-line, which is closely pioneer, ascribable to the Salsolo-Cakiletum maritimae, characterized by the dominance of Ccikile maritima Scop, associated with Salsola kali l . and Polygonum maritimum l . The next strip, attributable to the CyperO- AgVOpy return juncei, is characterized by herbaceous perennial plants of low embryo dunes. The associ- ation p h y sio g n o m ic ally is characterized by the do- minance of Elytrigia juncea ( l . ) n evskiwhich is as- sociated with Sporobolus virginicus { L.) K until and Achillea maritima (L .) Ehrend. et Y.P. Guo. The ve- getation parallel to the latter strip is dominated by Centaurea sphaerocephala l. and Onosis natrix subsp. ramosissima (D esf .) Batt.; are also present Pancratium maritimum l., Euphorbia terracina l. and LotUS CytisoideS. It is a plant comm unity ascrib- able to the Centaureo-Ononidetum ramosissimae, chain aephytic and h em ic rip to p h y tic vegetation nor- mally c o n fin ed on th e dunes furth er in lan d with little movement, the expansion of which is favored by human disturbance (M in is s ale & Sciandrello, 2010). Proceeding inland, the psam m ophilous series is interrupted by a road parallel to the coastline. The analysis also revealed a degradation of the psam m ophilous vegetation due to the leveling and trampling of the dunes in the vicinity of the holi- day season. The persistent action of scraping in sandy shore led to the demise of mobile dunes with typical vegetation with Ammophila arenaria (L.) Link, therefore, observing the current vegetation con firm s th e absence of th e typical z o n a tio n of dune environments like those along the Ionian coast of south-eastern and far less degraded (see Brullo et al., 1988; M inissale & Sciandrello, 2010). The plant communities found are ranked according to the following syntaxonomical scheme: CAKILETEA MARITIMAE R.Tx & Preising in Br.-B 1. & R.Tx 1952 CAK1LETALIA IN T E G R IF O L I A E R.Tx ex Oberd. 1 949 corr. R iv as -M artin ez , Costa & Loidi 1992 CAKILION MARITIMAE Pignatti 1953 Salsolo-Cakiletum maritimae Costa & m ansanet 1981 corr. Rivas-M artinez et al. 1992 AMMOPHILETEA Br.-B 1. & R.Tx ex Westhoff et al. 1946 AM M OPHILETALIA Br.-Bl. 1933 AM M OPHILION AUSTRALIS Br.-Bl. 1921 em. Gehu, Rivas-M artinez & R.Tx in Rivas-M artin ez et al. 1980 Cypero capitati-Agropyretum juncei Kuhnhoitz- Lordat (1 923 ) Br.-Bl. 1933 CRUCIANELLETALIA MARITIMAE Sissing 1974 ON ON ID IO N RAMOSISSIMAE Pignatti 1952 Centaureo-Ononidetum ramosissimae Br.-B 1 . & F re i in F re i 19 3 7 Requalification of coastal plant landscape of South-Eastern Sicily, Italy: the case of Marina di Priolo 167 Figure 1. The area of study: Marina di Priolo, Syracuse ( S ic ily , Italy ) . Figure 3. Marina di Priolo, Syracuse (Sicily, Italy): p s am m o p h ilo u s vegetation. CONCLUSIONS The research suggests a number of measures aimed at the improvement and protection of plant landscape of the study area: - allocation of a minimum unit of surface pro- tection to the progressive development of natural v e g e ta tio n . T h e "minimun dynamic area " is d e fin e d as the balance between the effects of disturbance and the area required for the development of the psam mophilous community. In our case, the situ- ation found suggests to preserve space as widely as possible to enable us to reconstruct the seriation of vegetation and restore the dune system. Figure 2. Marina di Priolo, Syracuse (Sicily, Italy): waste left along the beach. Figure 4. Marina di Priolo, Syracuse (Sicily, Italy): the green area caled “Garden of the Sea”. This could be achieved by: - elimination of non - native flora, both spontan- eous and ornamental, present in the area concerned with habitat restoration through the use of native species from propagation material (seed), local germ plasm collected in a special center or in a neighboring area less anthropized and comparable with the examined site. It is therefore proposed a renaturalization especially in the "Garden of the Sea", by converting the area into a natural garden characterized by the recovery of plant comm unities typical of dune environments having a dual role: eco-functional and didactic educational. - development of a seaside tourism compatible with the environmental restoration of the site. 168 Angelo Zimmitti etalii Salsolo-Cakiletum maritimae Releve Number 1 2 3 S urfac e (m q ) 50 50 20 Slope (% ) 50 40 40 Char. Ass. Salsola kali l . 1 + + 3 Char. Euphorbion peplis & Cakiletea maritimae Cakile maritima scop. 4 3 3 3 Polygonum maritimum l . 1 + 1 3 Xanthium strumarium italicum (m oretti) d . Love + + 2 Chamaesyce peplis (L . ) p ro k h . + 1 Companions Sporobolus virginicus (L .) k unth + + + 3 Achillea maritima (l .) Ehrend. & y.-p. Guo 1 + 2 Table 1. The area of study, Marina di Priolo, Syracuse (Sicily, Italy): Salsolo-Cakiletum maritimae (Date 2 0 .x .2 0 1 2 ) . Cypero capitati-Agropyretum juncei Releve Number 1 2 3 S urfac e (m q ) 30 30 30 Slope (% ) 70 60 60 Char. Ass. Elytrigia juncea (l .) Nevski 4 3 3 3 Sporobolus virginicus (L .) k unth 2 1 3 3 Achillea maritima (L.) Ehrend. & y.-p. Guo + 1 Char. Ammophilion & Ammophiletea Eryngium maritimum l . 1 + + 3 Pancratium maritimum l . + + + 3 Echinophora spinosa l . + + 2 Silene nicaeensis ah. + + 2 Companions Cakile maritima Scop. + + + 3 Polygonum maritimum l . + + 2 Table 2. The area of study, M arina di Priolo, Syracuse (Sicily, Italy): Cypero capitati-Agropyretum juncei (Date 20.x. 2012). Requalification of coastal plant landscape of South-Eastern Sicily, Italy: the case of Marina di Priolo 169 Centaureo- Ononidetum ramosissimae Releve Number l 2 3 S urfac e (m q ) 1 5 20 20 Slope (% ) 100 100 100 Char. Ass. Ononis hispanica ramosissima (Desf.)FortheretPodiech 4 4 3 3 Centaurea sphaerocephala l . 2 1 2 3 Char. Crucianelletalia & Ammophiletea Euphorbia terracina l . 2 2 1 3 Pancratium maritimum l . 1 + + 3 Elytrigia juncea (L .) Nevski 1 1 + 3 Silene nicaeensis a 11 . 1 + + 3 Sporobolus virginicus (L .) k unth 1 + 2 Ononis variegata l . + + 2 Cyperus capitatus v a n d e 1 . 1 1 Companions Anisantha rigida (Roth) h y 1 . 2 2 1 3 Silene colorata Poir. 2 1 1 3 Lagurus ovatus l . 1 1 + 3 Vulpia fasdculata (Forssk.) Fritsch 1 1 + 3 Scolymus liispanicus l . 1 + 1 3 Glebionis coronaria (l.) Spach 1 + + 3 Dittrichia viscosa (L .) g reuter 1 + 2 Cutandia maritima (L .) b arbey + + 2 Table 3. The area of study, Marina di Priolo, Syracuse (Sicily, Italy): Centaureo-Ononidetum ramosissimae (d ate 1 5 .iv.20 1 3 ). The recommended actions will help restoring psammophilous communities also improving the ecological continuity between the dune environ- ment and the wetland of RNO "Saline di Priolo" permitting, at the same time, visitors to perceive a higher degree of naturalness of the environment compared to the current situation of degradation. The proposed objectives are part of a broader scope of environmental restoration of the examined area, connecting with an ongoing project concerning the work of restoring of the f o rm e r tenement E S P E S I , located on the peninsula M agnisi, to be allocated to the visitor center and guest house (PO FESR 2007- 2013 axis 3 ob. specific 2.1; program agreement 31/08/2011 between Department of Environment and Regional Authorities of the “Enti gestori delle Riserve Siciliane”). REFERENCES Braun-BlanquetJ., 1964. Pflanzensoziologie. 3 ed, Springer Verlag, Wien, 865 pp. 170 Angelo Zimmitti etalii Brullo S.,De SantisC.,FurnariF.,Longhitano N.& R onsis- valle G 1 988. La vegetazione dell’Oasi della Foce del S im e to (S ie ilia orien tale). B rau n - B lan qu etia, 2 : 165-1 88. Brullo S., Giusso Del Galdo G., Minissale P., Siracusa G. & Spam pinato G., 2002. Considerazioni sintasso- nomiche e fito g e o g rafic h e sulla vegetazione della Si- cilia. Bollettino Accademia Gioenia di Scienze Naturali, 3 5 (3 6 1 ): 3 25-3 5 9. Carbone S., Grasso M . & Lentini F., 1 9 86. Carta geolo- gica del settore n o rd -o rie n ta le ibleo. Scala 1:50.000. S.E.L.C.A., Firenze. Minissale P. & Sciandrelo S., 2010. Flora e vegetazione terrestre della Riserva Naturale di Vendicari (Sicilia Sud-Orientale). L'Area Protetta di Vendicari. Atti del Convegno Celebrativo per il 35° anno di fondazione dell'Ente Fauna Sicilia 8°, pp.128. Pignatti S., 1982. Flora d 'Italia . I — 1 1 1 , Edagricole, Bologna, 2324 pp. Scelsi F. & Spam pinato G ., 1 998. C a ra tte ris tic h e biocli- matiche dei Monti Iblei. Bollettino Accademia Gioenia di Scienze Naturali, 29 (35 3 ): 27-43. Zampino S . , Duro A., Piccione V. & Scalia C., 1997. Fitoclima della Sicilia. Termoudogrammi secondo W alter & Lieth. Atti 5° W orkshop Prog. Strat. C .N .R. "Clima, Ambiente e Territorio nel M ezzogiorno" A m alfi. 2: 7-54. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 171-174 Monograph The use of flora, vegetation and habitats in the studies of Environmental Impact Assessment Pietro Minissale Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Sez. Biologia Vegetale, Universita di Catania, via A. Longo 19, 95125 Catania (Italy); e-mail: p.minissale@unict.it ABSTRACT The paper examines local flora, vegetation and habitats in order to highlight the plant component’s role as not only an indicator of the quality and state of the environment, but also as an extremely useful element in restoration activities required by environmental impact studies. Some methodological proposals have been done as objective criteria in the assessment procedures. KEY WORDS local flora; biodiversity; indicators; restoration. Received 18.06.2014; accepted 08.09.2014; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 16th- 18th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION In the studies of environmental impact, the bi- otic component as a whole (and which includes man) is normally the cornerstone on which the im- pact generated from plans and projects is assessed. This paper examines the plant component (limited to the vascular flora and plant communities) in order to highlight the way it plays a key role as in- dicator of the quality and state of the environment, as an accurate sensor of the impacts but also as an extremely useful element in restoration activities required or proposed by environmental impact stud- ies. It also intends to make a few methodological proposals for the use of objective criteria in the assessment procedures. MATERIAL AND METHODS The paper is a brief methodological review, resulting from experience gained on several impact assessments developed in recent years on the island of Sicily, which is representative of the Mediter- ranean region. These assessments have allowed sa- lient features of plant biodiversity to be recognized and taken into account in an impact assessment study in order to minimize the effects of exploitation of plant biodiversity in favour of conservation policies. INDICATORS OF THE QUALITY AND STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT The assessment of the quality or the degree of naturalness of a study area is crucial in making a considered judgment on the quality and intensity of the impact that the implementation of a plan or pro- ject leads to. Plants species and plant communities fully comply with these requirements. Plant species are, in fact, indicators of the qual- ity and state of the environment since each taxon of the flora of a study area is placed into specific habitats. The narrow endemic species, or otherwise rare or included in the national or regional red lists, are usually associated with the most natural and 172 Pietro Minissale sensitive habitats effected by human actions. In this way, they indicate the presence of important hab- itats to be protected. Furthermore, these plants are the preferred subjects for appropriate impact as- sessments (Rossi et al., 2014). In contrast, the most trivial synanthropic species are present in habitats with predominantly anthropogenic determinism such as farmland, edges of the road, landfills, etc. and therefore they are not veiy useful in the context of environmental assessments or, at the very least, they indicate the lack of floristic elements to be protected. In this case traditional agricultural landscape as a whole, rather than the natural one, will be focused on for the impact assessment (Barbera & Cullotta 2012). Plant communities, better than single species, are very fine and accurate indicators of the type, quality and state of the environment since they are an expression of ecological factors such as climate, soil, and anthropogenic influence which allows them to exist within the framework of the vegeta- tion series (1), where discrete units (with statisti- cally uniform floristic composition) can usually be recognized (Pott, 2011). Plant communities are also the most characteristic and diagnostic element of habitat, which is considered as a uniform parts of the ecosystem and is almost always detectable in large to small scale on cartography. In most cases, their identification is easier than a single species whose presence may be due to chance. For this reason, plant communities are the driving elements for impact assessments as they may have different value in the conservation policies and different sensitivity to human actions. The spa- tial mosaic of habitats is also useful in assessing the potential fauna of an area and therefore, it allows an opinion on the ecosystem as a whole to be expressed (Sabella, 2015). A topic generally not highlighted for environ- mental impact studies is the great local diversity of the indicators mentioned above. In Italy, for example, it is possible to recognize at least three biomes, (1) A series of vegetation is made up of all the plant com- munities related by dynamic relationships that could occur in a ecologically homogeneous space with the same poten- tial vegetation, having the same physical conditions (i.e. meso-climate, soil type, geomorphology). It is dependent on processes of vegetational succession, management and extreme events (e.g. fire, storm damage, volcanic eruption). Mediterranean, Alpine and Temperate. There are also significant differences in the flora and vegeta- tion which exist in smaller territories as highlighted by several authors (Greuter, 2010; Blasi et al., 2010; Blasi & Frondoni, 2011). Due to this fact and al- though the method of investigation and assessment may be the same, the contribution of regional specialists who can better understand or highlight floristic and vegetational peculiarities is required. With regard to the assessment methodologies and to be able to converse with other specialists, it is necessary to use objective and quantifiable criteria as much as possible. One of these is the “floristic vegetational value” for plant species with endemism, rarity, and/or endangered taxa, while for plant com- munities and habitat the evaluation depends on vegetation series position and biogeographical significance. A proper scale of values, to be assigned to these biotic elements, must be compared with the induced changes by a plan or project, allowing more calibrated matrices to be created. As explained regarding indicators, the botanist works on two main levels: plant species and plant communities, recognizable as habitats. A third level, the landscape, and in particular plant landscape, should be considered but this competence is to be shared with other specialists such as agronomists, geologists and architects. However, if we consider the natural plant landscape for which the recogni- tion of vegetation series is key, the environmental analyst with a botanical background remains the only acceptable specialist. The sources for plant species are the national and regional floras, the red lists, and the lists of pro- tected species by laws and directives. However, these lists are often deficient because they ignore many important species. The most striking case is that of Annex 2 of the European Directive 92/43 in which many rare endemic species are not men- tioned. A likely reason is that in the 1990s the spe- cialists involved in making up this list did not fully understand its importance. At the level of plant communities, the list of habitats of Community interest is very useful (listed in Annex 1 of the above mentioned directive) where the deficiencies seem fairly small. As highlighted above, the need to know the vegetation series of each area is of great importance in order to safeguard and properly assess any mature stages if present. In Italy, a refer- ence element is Blasi (2010a, 2010b) who indicates, The use of flora, vegetation and habitats in the studies of Environmental Impact Assessment 173 based on the collaboration of many regional spe- cialists, all the vegetation series of the national ter- ritory. Also in this case, the general pattern must be checked and adjusted for each individual case study. ENVIRONMENTAL COMPENSATIONS The main purpose of providing environmental compensation for the damage caused to nature through building and construction projects is to maintain the quality of the environment (Persson, 2013). This approach has been used to a large extent in Germany and the USA since the 1970s, and the EU has adopted several directives dealing with environmental compensation. Therefore, if environ- mental impact assessments show even a modest loss to the habitats or ecosystems, this gives the analyst the opportunity to propose compensatory actions that should result in the recovery of damaged hab- itats or improvement of neighbouring ones not directly affected by the plan or project. These com- pensatory activities, when related to environmental restoration, cannot be wasted or nullified by the planting of species that are not relevant to the site but they require a highly skilled design as will be explained in the following paragraph. RESTORATION ACTIVITIES The use of plant species for environmental restoration is an opportunity, not only to mitigate or compensate the impact of construction or infra- structure work but also to trigger or facilitate the recovery of habitats often in decline. This assertion is valid only if the restoration activities are set in a rigorous way, i.e. taking into account the vegeta- tion series and local potential vegetation. Once again, the local plant diversity is the driving element of the interventions. These assumptions are widely accepted in northern Europe and North America (Persson, 2013), but it is hard for them to be established in the Mediterranean region, and in Italy in particular. At present, most of the infrastructure work (especially linear ones such as roads and railways) are marked by sometimes alien invasive plants. The presences of these alien plants are, in many cases, a legacy of the past (i.e. work created decades ago) but in recent cases, such as the Catania-Siracusa highway completed in 2009, on the slopes, potentially invasive species such as Cortaderia selloana have been planted with some native plants (Basnou, 2009; Domenech et al., 2005). Nevertheless, there are some pioneering activit- ies developed in Sicily, which are following the new direction of environmental restoration (La Mantia et al., 2012; Barbera et al., 2013) and bodes well for the future. CONCLUSIONS With the present paper, an attempt to highlight what the salient points in an environmental impact assessment regarding the flora and vegetation has been carried out. The outlined framework emphas- izes the importance of taking into account the above-mentioned elements (species, communities, habitats) in all evaluations and proposal steps of a work as they are the perfect sensors of any positive/negative impact, the indicators of environ- mental quality, and the main protagonists in envir- onmental restoration and mitigation activities. On these basis, the environmental analyst must be able to better guide or mitigate the project’s actions, considering that, in spite of any attempt to contain the rate of destruction or alteration of nat- ural resources, the transforming activity of man and its resulting impacts on the biosphere, both large and small-scale, will never end. REFERENCES Barbera G. & Cullotta S., 2012. An Inventory Approach to the Assessment of Main Traditional Landscapes in Sicily (Central Mediterranean Basin). Landscape Research, 37: 539-569. Barbera G., Di Leo C. & Scuderi L., 2013. 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Perceptions of environmental compens- ation in different scientific fields, International Journal of Environmental Studies, 70: 4, 611-628. Pott R., 2011. Phytosociology: a modern geobotanical method. Plant Biosystems, 145 (Suppl. 1): 9-18. Rossi G., Montagnani C., Abeli T., Gargano D., Pemzzi L., Fenu G., Magrini S., Gennai M., Foggi B., Wagensommer R .P, Ravera S., Cogoni A., Aleffi M., Alessandrini A., Bacchetta G., Bagella S., Bartolucci F., Bedini G., Bernardo L., Bovio M., Gastello M., Conti F., Domina G., Farris E., Gentili R., Gigante D., Peccenini S., Persiani A.M., Poggio L., Prosser F., Santangelo A., Selvaggi A., Villani M.C., Wilhalm T., Zappa E., Zotti M., Tartaglini N., Ardenghi N.M.G., Blasi C., Raimondo F.M., Venturella G., Cogoni D., Puglisi M., Campisi P, Miserere L., Perrino E.V., Stmmia S., Iberite M., Lucchese F., Fabrini G. & Orsenigo S., 2014. Are Red Lists really useful for plant conservation? The New Red List of the Italian Flora in the perspective of national con- servation policies. Plant Biosystems, 148: 187-190. Sabella G., 2015. The use of the entomo fauna in the stud- ies of Environmental Impact Assessment and Eval- uation of Impact. Biodiversity Journal, 6: 175-184. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 175-184 Monograph The use of the entomofauna in the studies of the Environmen- tal Impact Assessment (E.I.A.) and Assessment of Impact (A.I.) Giorgio Sabella , Oscar Lisi & Fabio Massimo Viglianisi Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, sez. Biologia Animale, Universita di Catania, via Androne 81, 95124 Catania, Italy; e-mail: sabellag@unict.it; olisi@unict.it; fabiovgl@unict.it ’Corresponding author ABSTRACT The paper highlights the entofauna’s role as not only as an indicator of the environmental quality, but also as an useful component in the studies of the Environmental Impact Assess- ment (E.I.A.) and Assessment of Impact (A.I.). Some approaches and tools, with particular emphasis on Sicily, are proposed in regards to the use of the entomofauna in the assessment procedures. KEY WORDS Environmental Impact Assessment; Impact Assessment; Entomofauna; tools; Sicily. Received 09.01.2015; accepted 19.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6th- 1 8th 20 1 4, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION This paper is a brief methodological review, res- ulting from the experience gained on several impact assessments elaborated in the recent years in Sicily. In Europe there are three different types of en- vironmental impact assessment: 1) S.E.A. (Stra- tegic Environmental Assessment), based on the Directive 2001 /42/EC on the assessment of the ef- fects of certain plans and programs on the environ- ment; 2) E.I.A. (Environmental Impact Assessment) based on the Directive 2014/52/UE, concerning the impacts assessment of public and private projects on the environment. The Directive determines the authorization of certain projects affecting the envir- onment to an assessment by the competent national or regional authority. This assessment must identify the direct and indirect effects of these projects on the following: human, fauna, flora, soil, water, air, climate, landscape, material resources and cultural heritage, and the interaction between these compon- ents; 3) A.I. (Assessment of Impact), regarding the assessment of plans and projects significantly affecting the sites of the Natura 2000 Network. This evaluation is based on the Directive 92/43/EEC (Habitat Directive), on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, and on the Directive 2009/1 47/EC on the conservation of wild birds (ex Directive 79/409 EEC). Particu- larly, the Assessment of Impact is defined and regu- lated by the article 6, of the Habitat Directive, that in the third paragraph reads: “Any plan or project not directly connected with or necessary to manage the site but likely to have a significant effect, individu- ally or in combination with other plans or projects, is subjected to impact assessment on the site respect to the conservation objectives of this site”. Through these guidelines the EU seeks to ensure biodiversity by conserving natural habitats, wild fauna, vegeta- tion and flora in the territory of the Member States. 176 Giorgio Sabella etalii In the studies of evaluation of environmental impact, the analysis of the biotic component is fundamental to asses the impact generated from plans and projects; therefore it is obvious that the fauna is one of the minimum contents required for the preparation of environmental impact studies, together with vegetation, flora (see Minissale, 2015) and ecosystems. THE FAUNA IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDIES Before delving into the issues related to the wildlife analysis in the environmental impact studies, the definition of the fauna's concept is necessary. According to La Greca (1995), the fauna is: “A set of species and subspecies of vertebrates and invertebrates, each divided into one or more populations, living in a certain territory not captive or farmed (indigenous species) and included in natural ecosystems, the presence of which in that area is due to historical events (paleogeographic and paleoclimatic), or to evolutionary processes in situ (autochthonous species or subspecies), or to indigenation of exotic species”. The study of wildlife shows numerous and com- plex problem: a) veiy large number of animals, especially invertebrates (over 80% of the animals belong to the phylum Arthropoda, inside of which more than 75% belong to the class Hexapod); b) basic knowledge in general unsatisfactory, even for protected areas; c) difficulty of making a quick faunistical list of a region, even with small extension; d) necessity to adopt different and very specialized sampling methods related to the animals mobility and the different habitats they occupy; e) difficulty in developing maps for wildlife. In relation to these issues, two methodologies are used for the study of fauna in the environmental impact studies: 1) Ecosystem approach (review of certain natural habitats of particular interest in relation to the associated fauna component); 2) List of species (for a more detailed discussion of the topic see Sabella & Petralia, 2012). Really, the zoologists must interpret the territory as a mosaic of areas that provide real or potential opportunities (trophic, reproduction, shelter, etc.) for the various wildlife species. The attention of the zoologists involved in the en- vironmental impact studies, generally, focuses on the terrestrial vertebrates (especially birds), because it is the best known component of the wildlife and responds to the needs to assess the environmental quality in relation to the targets of the impact studies. THE USE OF ENTOMOFAUNA: AP- PROACHES AND TOOLS The insects are generally poorly used in the en- vironmental impact studies. This component, instead, on account of its species richness (more than 1 million of taxa known heretofore), of its ubiquitous occurrence and very different diet (predators, phytophagous, saprophagous, parasites, pollinators, etc.) and of its diverse and articulated ecological requirements is suited for the environ- mental impact studies (Rosenberg et al., 1986). The study of entomofauna, in many cases, provides more detailed information on the fine structure and functioning of the ecosystems and/or allows to study in more detail the habitats or the microhabit- ats of particular naturalistic value (dunes and back- shore, springs, ripicolous environments, soil, caves, rotting stumps, hollow of old trees, etc.), which are sometimes very important in the environmental im- pact studies, and also in the territorial planning and in the nature conservation policy (Gobbi, 2000). In relation to the high species number and to the great diversity of the environments in which they occur, the study of insects present all the problems outlined above in a more accentuated, so much so that, at first glance, it would seem almost impossible to use the insects in the assessment procedures. For this reasons guidelines for the use of insects in im- pact evaluation are, generally, lacking, with excep- tion regarding the freshwater ecosystems (Adham et al., 2009; Walters, 2011; Barman, 2014) and the agro ecosystems (see for example Caoduro et al., 2014). To do this you have, first, to give up the idea of establishing a more or less full list of insect species of a territory, even if small. In any case, this idea is unworkable for all faunistical studies. But ignoring entomofauna cannot solve this problem. In the last years, however, many tools have become available for use the insects in the environmental management and also in the impact assessment studies. For a review of the various sampling methodologies of entomofauna used in environmental monitoring and a case study see Burgio et al. (2013). The use of the entomofauna in the studies of the Environmental Impact Assessment (E.I.A.) and Assessment of Impact (A.I.) 177 It is clear that for assessment studies can be used only a small fraction of all insect species that occur in the study area and should be considered those with conservation problems (IUCN status, inclusion in international conventions or European directive annexes) and/or scientific value (endemic, sten- oecious, at the areal limit, etc.). Below are briefly treated the main tools usable for the evaluation of the environmental quality based on the presence of insects species. They, substantially, consist of the European, national and regional red list drafted according to IUCN criteria, of the annexes of different interna- tional convention and European directive, of the checklists (sometimes georeferenced), and of the Standard Data Form and the Management Plan of the Natura 2000 site. SPECIES INCLUDED IN THE ANNEXES OF DIRECTIVE 43/92 EEC Insects species of Annex II to Directive 43/92 EEC present in Sicily The taxa listed in Annex II are named as “ Com- munity interest species whose conservation requires the designation of special areas of conser- vation''’ (with an asterisk priority species are indicated). All these species are very important for Assessment of Impact because it is mandatory to take them into account and considering the possible negative effects induced by the territory's trans- formation linked to realize a project. Only if you can exclude negative effects on these species, or in the presence of negative impacts proposing effect- ive mitigation measures, it is possible to give a positive evaluation of the environmental compatib- ility of the project. The insect species included in the Annex II to Directive 43/92 EEC present in Sicily are show in Table 1 , and briefly commentated on below, em- phasizing the most important threat factors to consider for their conservation. Coenagrion mercuriale (Charpentier, 1 840) The larvae live in streams, usually on limestone substrates. Sicilian populations (Fig. 1) are very loc- alized. The species is rare in Italy and must be con- sidered vulnerable. The major threats are: river straightening, water harnessing, swamps and soil drainage, water table lowering through irrigation, field destruction or conversion into other agricul- tural practices, water pollution (IUCN, 2014). ODONATA Coenagrionidae Coenagrion mercuriale (o) - in Italy C. mercuriale castellani Roberts, 1948 Cordulegastridae Cordulegaster trinacriae ORTHOPTERA Gryllidae Brachytrupes megacephalus Myrmecophilus haronii - only Pantelleria island COLEOPTERA Lucanidae Lucanus cerx’us (?) (o) Geotrupidae Bolbelasmus unicornis - in Sicily B. romanorum Cetoniidae * Osmoderma eremita - in Sicily O. cristinae Cerambicidae Cerambyx cerdo *Rosalia alpina LEPIDOPTERA Arctiidae *Callimorpha quadripunctaria (now Euplagia ) (o) Satyridae Melanargia arge Table 1. Insects species of Annex II to Directive 43/92 EEC present in Sicily. All species listed in Annex II are present also in Annex IV excluding those followed by symbol (o). The symbol * highlights the priorities species, while the symbol (?) indicates the uncertain presence of the species in Sicily. 178 Giorgio Sabella etalii Cordulegaster trinacriae Waterston, 1976 The larvae live in clean streams with sandy bottom, shaded by tree vegetation. The species is threatened by chemical and physical water pollution, by water extraction for human use and by removal of riparian vegetation. Desiccation due to climate change is a further threat for this species (IUCN, 2014). Brachytrupes megacephalus (Lefevre, 1 827) Large cricket that lives in dune and back-dune environments, showing strong burrowing habits. It builds a long one -meter burrow using a spectacular technique of excavation. The species (Fig. 2) is threatened by habitat changes due to agricultural practices and touristic exploitation of beach (see Petralia et al., 2015). Myrmecophilus baronii Baccetti, 1966 Endemic species to Pantelleria Island. It is a mirmecophilous Grillidae generally enfeoffed with the ants of the genus Lasius Fabricius, 1804. Lucanus cervus cervus (Linnaeus, 1758) The presence of this taxon in Sicily is to be con- firmed. It lives in forests of oak and chestnut, sometimes, on the trunks and branches of willows and mulberries. The female lays the eggs at the foot of the trees; the larvae feed on humus and then penetrate into the trunk, but generally they dig their tunnels in the stumps remaining in ground and their development requires up to 5 years. The species is threatened by the coppicing of the forests and cleanliness of the undergrowth. The taxon not yet assessed for the IUCN Red List. In Sicily is certainly presents L. tetraodon sicilianus Planet, 1899, showing similar ecological requirements but is not listed in any Annex to the Habitats Directive. Bolbelasmus romanorum Amone et Massa, 2010 Bolbelasmus unicornis (Schrank, 1789) is in- cluded in Annex II of the Habitats Directive and also B. romanorum, endemic to Sicily, should be inserted into Annex II. B. romanorum is relatively rare and localized species. Its biology is still poorly known. It can be occasionally observed wandering on the ground or under stones and during crepuscular flight. The taxon not yet assessed for the IUCN Red List. *Osmoderma cristinae Sparacio, 1994 The genus Osmoderma Le Peletier de Saint- Fargeau et Serville, 1828 includes species very sensitive to environmental changes and everywhere in rarefaction. O. eremita (Scopoli, 1763) is included in Annex II of the Habitats Directive as priority species. Even O. cristinae (Fig. 3), endemic to northwestern Sicily, and O. italicum Sparacio, 2000, endemic to Central and Southern Italy, with a biology entirely comparable with that of O. eremita, should be inserted into Annex II and regarded as priority species. O. cristinae is a silvicolous species. The larvae develop in old rotting trunks of oaks or maples. The main overall threat is likely to be degradation or loss of habitat quality, involving structural changes in the tree populations arising from changing land use - affecting age structures and trees density. Exploitation from forestry is often a key immediate issue, but equally damaging can be long-term changes towards canopy closure and loss of old trees as a result of non or minimum interven- tion management systems which all too often ex- clude grazing by large herbivores. Fragmentation and increasing isolation of beetle populations are also key factors. The restricted area of occupancy combines limited population size with reduced hab- itat availability, bird predation, fires, and frequently unsuitable local techniques of forest management (Audisio et al., 2007). Cerambyx cerdo cerdo (Linnaeus, 1758) Silvicolous species. The adult feeds on leaves, fruit and lymph and actively flies in the twilight hours. After mating, which occurs between June and August, the female lays her eggs in the cracks of the bark of big oak trees. The saproxylic larva begins to dig tunnels in the cortical layers and then penetrates into the wood and its development requires 3-4 years. It is a species threatened by coppicing of oak trees and by the removal of old decaying plants. * Rosalia alpina (Linnaeus, 1758) The species (Fig. 4) lives preferentially in mature forests with a predominance of beech, especially The use of the entomofauna in the studies of the Environmental Impact Assessment (E.I.A.) and Assessment of Impact (A.I.) 179 those characterized by very rainy or oceanic climate. Adults are active during the day on logs felled or inflorescences of Umbrelliferae. After mating, eggs are laid in the wood; the larval development takes 3 years, and it is preferably done in dead or decayed wood of beech exposed to the sun. The larva can develop also on alder, ash, hawthorn, linden and maple or conifers. The species is threatened by excessive cleaning the forest area; perhaps even by air pollution and by the general contraction of beech forests, especially mature ones. *Euplagia quadripunctaria (Poda, 1761) The only European species of this genus. It can be found in the cool forests and, in the Mediter- ranean region, most often in narrow valleys bounded by mountains with steep slopes with perennial streams and continuous woodlands, characterized by a microclimate cooler and wetter than the surround- ing areas. Adults have primarily nocturnal habits and spending the day in the dense vegetation. The larvae emerge after 8-15 days after spawning and feed on various plants for a short time (like several Ros- aceae, and other species such as black locust and eastern plane tree, vines and mulberry trees, honey- suckle) then they go into hibernation. After the 5th molt, the caterpillar spins a slight cocoon in the litter. The pupal stage lasts about 1 month; the imago emerges between June and August, most often in July, according to the altitude and the seasons. Melanargia arge (Sulzer, 1776) The species is distributed in peninsular Italy and northern Sicily. Its habitat is represented by arid steppes with scattered bushes and isolates trees with outcropping rocks. Most of the sites are located in the valleys sheltered from the wind or in hilly areas inland. The fires favored by shepherds and the Figure 1. Coenagrion mercuriale castellani, Sicily, Palermo, stazione Montemaggiore Belsito, 30.IV.2010. Figure 2. Brachytrupes megacephalus, Sicily, Trapani, Capo Feto, 1.V.2011. Figure 3. Osmoderma cristinae, Sicily, Madonie Mountains, Gibilmanna, 2.VII.2014. Figure 4. Rosalia alpina, Nebrodi Mountains, Biviere di Cesaro, 6.VII.2014 (Photos by C. Muscarella). 180 Giorgio Sabella etalii ORTHOPTERA TETTIGONIIDAE Saga pedo LEPIDOPTERA PAPILIONIDAE Papilio alexanor Parnassius apollo Parnassius mnemosyne Zerynthia polyxena SPHINGIDAE Proserpinus proserpina Table 2. Insects species of Annex IV to Directive 43/92 EEC not listed in Annex II, present in Sicily. overgrazing can have serious negative effects on this species along with other habitat alterations. This species is not believed to face major threats at the European level. Insects species of Annex IV to Directive 43/92 EEC not listed in Annex II, present in Sicily The taxa listed in Annex IV are named as “Community interest species in need of strict protection”. Most of the species listed in Annex II are also mentioned in Annex IV, so in Table 2 are shown only the insects species present in Sicily and listed in Annex IV, but not in Annex II. They are briefly commentated on below, emphasizing the most important threat factors to consider for their conservation. Saga pedo (Pallas, 1771) Species distributed from central-southern and southeastern Europe to central Asia and north- western China. In Italy it is present in a few areas of the Alps and Apennines, Sardinia and Sicily. Saga pedo colonizes areas with more or less open herbaceous vegetation or shrubs. It can be observed on the ground or on bushes, where moves rather slowly. Predator species, feeding mainly on other Orthoptera (grasshoppers and locusts) that captures thanks to the long and strong forelegs armed with spines. Never common in areas where it is present, is threatened by habitat degradation. Papilio alexanor Esper, 1800 This butterfly is mostly found on warm and dry calcareous slopes with flower-rich vegetation and low-growing bushes. It prefers slopes that are steep and rocky and it is especially active during the hottest hours of the day. Different foodplants are known, all of them umbellifers. Although this species shows a decline in a part of its European range, it is not believed to face major threats at the European scale. Parnassius apollo (Linnaeus, 1758) Species widely distributed in the mountains of Western Europe and Southern and Fennoscandia, although it is extinct in some areas such as central Germany, Czechoslovakia and Denmark and it is absent in Britain. In Sicily, the species is at the southern limit of its distribution range and is extremely localized, it is in fact known only from a few stations on the Madonie Mountains and accor- ding to some authors belongs to a subspecies P. apollo siciliae Oberthiir, 1899 (Fig. 5). Parnassius apollo is linked to stony and mountainous areas poor of vegetation. It shows a preference for cal- careous soils and for some plants such as Cardus spp., Cirsium spp., Origanum spp., Centaurea spp., Scabiosa spp. and Knauzia spp. Parnassius mnemosyne (Linnaeus, 1758) In Central Europe the species (Fig. 6) lives in hill and mountain areas up to 1,500 m of altitude, in Northern Europe in plain areas. In Italy he attends the clearings and the edges of deciduous forest (beech, turkey oak). Adults are attracted to many vegetal species, with a preference for red, purple and blue flowers as Centaurea spp., Knauzia spp., Geranium spp. and Lychnis spp. The two main The use of the entomofauna in the studies of the Environmental Impact Assessment (E.I.A.) and Assessment of Impact (A.I.) 181 causes of its decline are the reforestation and the changes in traditional agricultural practices, which have caused the disappearance of many meadow areas. Zerynthia polyxena (Denis et Schiffermuller, 1775) The only Italian species of this genus. It attends the plain near wetlands, the hilly and mountainous areas with arid terrain or rocky areas up to 900 m. It has a single annual generation, usually adults appear in April-May, but in Sicily may be active already at the end of February. The caterpillars feed on various species of Aristolochia L. The disappear- ance of this species, observed throughout Europe, is due to the reforestation and the habitat destruc- tion. Locally may be threatened by excessive collection. Proserpinus proserpina (Pallas, 1772) The only European species of the genus. It lives from the sea level up to 1 ,500 m in different biotopes such as valleys, forest edges, clearings and banks of the streams, in rich sites of Epilobium angustifolium L. Adults are primarily nocturnal and prefer nectar- rich flowers, such as the common oregano, several species of fireweed, wild pink and honeysuckle. The species has disappeared from many localities in re- cent times, but the causes are not known. Some po- pulations seem to disappear for a few years and reappear suddenly, for no apparent reason. SPECIES INCLUDED IN THE RED LIST BASED ON IUCN CRITERIA One other very useful tool is represented of the Red Lists based on IUCN criteria (IUCN, 2012). On the site http://www.iucnredlist.org/ can be check the Red List of Threatened Species, which are men- tioned all insect species considered threatened at the global level. For each of them, informations on tax- onomy, assessment, geographic range, population, habitat and ecology, and major threats are provided. However, there are European red lists among which are to mention those of saproxylic Coleoptera (Nieto & Alexander, 2010), of butterfly (Van Swaay et al., 2010), and of dragonflies (Kalkman et al., 2010). Also to be mentioned some national red lists such as those on Italian invertebrates (Cerfolli et al., Figure 5. Parnassius apollo, Sicily, Madonie Mountains, Pizzo Carbonara, 15.VII.2006. Figure 6. Parnassius mnemo- syne, Sicily, Madonie Mountains, Piano Battaglietta, 12.VI.2012 (Photos by C. Muscarella). 2002), on butterflies (Prola & Prola, 1990) and the recent red lists of Italian saproxylic Coleoptera (Audisio et al., 2014) and Italian dragonflies (Riservato et al., 2014). For Sicily, currently, there are not regional red lists of insects, the only work, that concerns only Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, is a list of species present within the Regional Parks, in which, for each species, informations on assess- ment, geographic distribution, and habitat are provided (Sabella & Sparacio, 2004). SPECIES LISTED IN THE ENTOMOLEX A very useful tool, drawn up under the auspices of the Italian Entomological Society, is represented 182 Giorgio Sabella etalii by Entomolex (Ballerio, 2004). It is a review that aims to provide an overview of all the rules concern- ing the conservation of the Italian insects. For each mentioned species is considered its inclusion in the annexes of international conventions (Conventions of Washington and Bern), of EU legislation (Directive 43/92 EEC), and of national and regional (Regions Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, and Veneto and the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano) laws. CKMAP OF ITALIAN FAUNA, FAUNA D’lTALIA AND REGIONAL CATALOGUE The CKmap project (Ruffo & Stoch, 2005) and its database have made available information on the punctual distribution in Italy of approximately 10,000 terrestrial and freshwater species selected from the checklist because protected, threatened, with scientific or biogeographical interest, or bioin- dicators. The project represents an important tool for a correct and scientific management of the biod- iversity and the natural habitats, as from Checklist of the Italian fauna (Minelli etal., 1993-1995), that comprises about 55,000 species. In the CKmap, for each species, geo-referenced data of the Italian localities, of the distribution, of the ecology, and its value as a bioindicator are provided. The analysis of so large sample of species has allowed to identify the most important areas in terms of the number of species, of the concentration of endemic species, of the species with restricted distribution and/or of particular biogeographical interest. All that permit to draw a picture of the overall distribution of animal biodiversity in Italy with a level of accuracy and detail unthinkable a few years ago. The CKmap can provide, therefore, detailed information on many species of Sicilian entomo- fauna, and must be integrated with the many mono- graphes of the series "Fauna d'ltalia" dedicated to insects, some regional checklist (see for example Pilato et al., 2007 for Iblean region) and many regional faunistic catalogs concerning various taxo- nomic groups such as Ephemeroptera (Belfiore et al., 1991), Plecoptera (Fochetti & Nicolai, 1987; Ravizza & Gerecke, 1991), Neuroptera (Pantaleoni, 1986), Coleoptera Cerambycidae (Sanaa & Schurmann, 1980), Coleoptera Staphylinidae (Sabella & Zanetti, 1991), Coleoptera Pselaphidae (Sabella, 1998), Coleoptera Tenebrionidae (Aliquo & Soldati, 2010; Aliquo & Soldati, 2014), etc. Of course many other citations of Sicilian insect species are dispersed in numerous scientific public- ations, it would be better to know, but the use of the tools suggested previously can be deemed suffi- cient to estimate the environmental quality of an area and assess the impact of the implementation of a project. STANDARD DATA FORM AND MANAGE- MENT PLAN OF NATURA 2000 SITES At each site Natura 2000 is associated a standard data form, available, for Italian sites, on the official website of the Ministry of Environment and Protec- tion of Land and Sea (http://www.minambiente.it/ pagina/schede-e-cartografie). The standard data form, which is still required in an Annex when processing a report of Impact Assessment, listing all habitats and species of Community interest whose conservation requires the designation of special areas of conservation (for the invertebrates see the section 3.2.f.) and also all other important species (see the section 3.3), because listed in the national red list (motivation A), endemics (motiva- tion B); included in the international conventions (motivation C) or for other reasons (motivation D). In regards to the Sicilian Region, on the official website of the Regional Ministry of Land and Environment (http://www.artasicilia.eu/old_site/ web/natura2000/index.html) most of the Manage- ment Plans of the Sicilian Natura 2000 sites are available and downloadable in pdf format. In these plans can be find detailed information on the animal species including their distribution in the site habitats and their ecological requirements. BRIEF CONCLUSIVE CONSIDERATIONS This paper attempts to emphasize the import- ance of the insect fauna study in environmental impact assessment and more generally in the ter- ritory planning and nature conservation. 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Coleotteri Cerambicidi di Sicilia. Animalia, 7: 189-230. Van Swaay C., Cuttelod A., Collins S., Maes D., Lopez Munguira M., Sasic M., Settele J., Verovnik R., Verstrael T., Warren M., Wiemers M. & Wynhof I. (compilators), 2010. European Red List of Butterfies. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, viii + 47. Walters A.W., 2011. Resistance of aquatic insects to low flow disturbance: exploring a trait-based approach. Journal of the North American Benthological Society, 30: 346-356. Washington Convention, 1973 on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 185-192 Monograph A study case of Assessment of Impact using the invertebrates Giorgio Sabella", Antonio Alicata & Fabio Massimo Viglianisi Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, sez. Biologia Anim ale, Universita di Catania, via Androne 81, 95124 Catania, Italy; e-mail: sabellag@unict.it; antonioalicata@g mail. com; fabiovgl@unict.it Corresponding author ABSTRACT A study case of Assessment of Impact (A. I.) in regards to the project of achieving diaphragm containment for homogeneous areas T and V of the Gela Refinery is explained. The inver- tebrates were used to evaluate the environmental quality and also to identify appropriate and effective mitigation measures and for preparing a post-operam monitoring. Some methodo- logical proposals and an index of faunistic habitat value have been proposed. KEY WORDS Assessment of Impact; Invertebrates; Sicily; Faunistic value index. Received 29.11.2014; accepted 21.02.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Cong re ss “Speciation and Taxonomy”, M ay 1 6 th- 1 8 th 20 14, Cefalit-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION The article 6 of the Directive 92/43 EEC estab- lishes the rules, which govern and regulate the con- servation and management of the Nature 200 0 network sites, and determines the guidelines to be adopted by the member states for proper relation- ship between the protection of natural resources and the land use. In particular, the paragraphs 3 and 4 establish procedures governing the approval of plans or projects that insist on SCI or SPA, and not directly related to their management. Essentially, any transform at ion that interests a Natura 2000 site, as well as areas adjacent thereto must be subjected to a procedure for Assessment of Impact, which excludes negative effects on the site, or, if it recog- nizes them, proposes corrective measures (mitiga- tion or compensation). The realization of a diaphragm containment of some areas of the Gela Refinery (Sicily), fell back within the perimeter of the SCI and S PA ITA050001 - Biviere and Macconi of Gela. Therefore, in com- pliance with the requirements of the aforemen- tioned legislation, the project proposer has decided to proceed to the elaboration of the Assessment of Impact to verify if the project could have the adverse effects on habitats and species in Annexes I and II Directive 92/43 EEC and species of Annex I to Directive 2009/147 EC of the Natura 200 0 site. The project involved the construction of a bar- rier to excavation with composite diaphragm (self- hardening mud and HDPE sheet) associated to a system of pumping wells of groundwater, already pre-existing for much, built upstream of the diaphragm. For its realization the excavation of a trench, about 1 meter wide, 25 meters on average deep, and about 2.5 kilometers long was foreseen, and so effects on soil fauna, which concerns substantially invertebrates, were expected. Although invertebrates are little used in environ- mental impact assessments (Sabella et al., 2015), in this case, for project evaluation their study was necessary, given their importance in determining the composition and structure of the soil fauna. For this reason, at the study of terrestrial Vertebrates it is added that of the invertebrates, with particular attention to the Insects. 186 Giorgio Sabella etalii MATERIAL AND METHODS Study area The study area includes a territory in which it is believed, on the basis of the project data, are pos- sible impacts on wildlife induced by its realization. The area is located in the district of “Piana del Signore”, in the municipality of Gela, within the larger territory of "Piana di Gela". It is bordered to west by the Priolo Channel, to the east by the New Priolo Channel and is between the coast and the south side of the Gela Refinery (Fig. 1). Sampling and analysis The species list refers to the study area identified in figure 1. The annotated catalogue of the ter- restrial Vertebrates was based on the Nature 2000 site's Standard Data Form, and also on literature references believed to be accurate, on personal observations and/or on the presence of potentially suitable habitat for the species. The annotated cata- log of theArthropods was based on the Natura 20 0 0 site's Standard Data Form, on literature references believed to be accurate, on a faunistic sampling campaign, with a monthly intervals, from June to November, with various techniques (collection on view, mowing, and sifting). For the purposes of an biocoenotic investigation on soil fauna, was also used the method of pit-fall traps, which allowed to sample many species, not detected by other sampling methods. For each species were reported data on: 1) sci- entific name, author and year, according to the nomenclature adopted by the check-list of Italian fauna (Minelli et al., 1993-1 995) and Ckmap of Italian fauna (Ruffo & Stoch, 2005), considering Figure 1. Study area. Red line: perimeter of the Natura 2000 site; in green: study area; in yellow: remediation area of basin A zone 2 of Gela Refinery, Sicily; in gray: affected area in the project of the diaphragm containment for homogeneous areas T and V of the Gela Refinery. A study case of Assessment of Impact using the invertebrates 187 the subsequent changes in the nomenclature of the recent literature; 2) the chorologic category, accord- ing to Vigna Taglianti et al. (1992, 1 999), while for birds according to Brichetti (1997); 3) the habitats potentially utilized by the species in the area; 4) if known, the phenology of the species; 5) the trend of European and Italian populations. Particular attention was given to measures of protection and conservation of which the species is the subject, indicating its presence in the fol- lowing annexes: - II (strictly protected species of fauna) and III (protected fauna species) of the Berne Convention, law 5 August 1981 n. 503, on the Conservation of European Wildlife and NaturalHabitats in Europe; - I (endangered migratory species) and II (migratory species to be the subject of agreements) of the Bonn Convention, law 25 January 1 983 n. 42, on the Conservation of migratory species of w ild an im als ; -A (species threatened with extinction which are ormay be an action of the trade) and B (species not necessarily threatened with extinction at the present time, but that may become so unless trade is not subject to regulation close) of the Washington Convention, law 19 December 1975 n. 874, on international trade in animal and plant species threatened with extinction (CITES) and subsequent amendments and additions; - II (animal and plant species of Community in- terest whose conservation requires the designation of special areas of conservation), IV (animal and plant species of Community interest in need of strict protection) and V (animal and plant species of Community interest whose taking in the wild and exploitation may be subject to management meas- ures) of EEC Directive 92/4 3, D.P.R. 8 September 1997 n. 357, on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora in Europe. As for the birds, for each species was specified inclusion in the Annexes (I, II/A , II/B , III/A and II I/C of the Directive EC 2009/147 and the conser- vation status according the Species of European Conservation Concern of Birdlife International, 2 0 04 (SPEC1, SPEC2, SPEC3, Non-SPEC E and Non-SPEC). For Mammals and Birds species, their possible protection established by the law 11 February 1992, n. 157 (rules for the protection of homeotherme wildlife and for hunting) and their inclusion in article 2, which provides for such species specific protective measures, was also considered. The species conservation status, inferred by the website IUCN 2014 and by the various national (Prola & Prola, 1990; C erfo lli et al., 20 0 2; Rondinini et al., 2013; Audisio et al., 2014; Riser- vato et al., 2014) and regional (AA.VV., 2008) red lists, based on IUCN criteria (IUCN, 2012), was also indicated. Species of Annex II to Directive 43/92 EEC = 1.5 +0.50 if prior itary Species of Annexes to international convention, or to national or regional laws — 1 Species included in national red lists based on IUCN criteria M CR = 1 ■ EN = O.SO *vu = 0.60 ■ NT = 0.40 ■ LC = 0.20 Species of binge ographical interest ■ Sicilian endemic species = 1+ 0.20 if present only in southern Sicily ■ Sicilian endemic subspecies =0.50 +0.20 if present only in southern Sicily ■ Species with restricted distribution — 0.50 * Species at the northern end of their distribution = 0.70 ■ Species which in Italy are present only in Sicily — 0.50 (1.00 if in Europe are present only in Sicily) ■ Species at the southern end of their distribution — 0.50 Species relevant for ecological aspects ■ Stenotops or stenoecious = 0.70 ■ Susceptible to human disturbance — 0.70 0 Localized — 0.50 0 Restricted populations =0,50 Table 1. Criteria used for the faunistic value attribution to the invertebrats species. 188 Giorgio Sabella etalii A faunistic value (see for example M assa & Canale, 2008) to each species is assigned, for inver- tebrates it was based on the criteria showed in Table 1. If a species fell within in more than cat- egories, the values were summed. Within the study area, based on the vegetation and the land use Habitat Acronym Shoreline and sandy shore BAR Aquatic environment and riparian zone ACQ Sand dune DUN Juniperus maritimus scrub MAG Retama raetam scrub MAR Tama fix g ro u p in g s TAM Back dune open environment APR Saccarum monophytic g ro u p in g s SAC Eucalyptus rostrata reforestation EUC Acacia saligna reforestation ACA Pinus pinea reforestation PIN Table 2. Habitat types within the study area and used acronym s. maps, the following 11 natural and seminatural habitat types have been identified (Table 2): In order to compare the faunistic values of the habitats aforementioned, considering the specific biodiversity level in each habitat, and the faunistic value of each species, an index of the faunistic I Aj) /<*) = £— x 100 Z>0) 1(h) = Index of habitat faunistic value j = species h = habitat v(j) = faunistic value of species nh(j) = number of habitats in which the species is present S= species of all habitat Figure 2. Formula used to calculate the faunistic value of the habitat. value of the habitat, 1(h), calculated with the for- mula showed in Fig. 2. Each species contributes to the ecosystems functioning, becoming part of the trophic netw orks, and using, at various levels, the habitat resources, so none of them can take a null faunistic value. Therefore, it was considered appropriate to assign a minimum value of 0.01 to each taxon. This value has been estimated as half of the minimum value of W/) found . nhti) RESULTS A total of 273 animal taxa were counted, of which 198 were Arthropods, and 186 Insects. The study of the invertebrate fauna of a geo- graphical area, although of limited size, requires very long times and the use of many specialists of different taxonomic groups, in consideration of its great richness and of its articulation, which allow s it to occupy most part of habitats, and in any case, can not be exhaustive (Sabella et al., 2015). Just remember that the check-list of Italian fauna (Minelli et al., 1 993-1 995 ) cites for Sicily over I 2,000 terrestrial taxa, with the Order of the Coleoptera which includes about 4,400 species and subspecies. The study of the invertebrate fauna, therefore, was aimed to examine only some of the fauna components considered important to establish the environmental quality and to identify the potential impacts related to modifications of the environ- ment. So, some groups were considered relevant to the study of the fauna of the soil, and of the sub- aerial environments. In particular, were considered, among the Chelicerata, Araneidae, and among the M andibulata, Crustacea (terrestrials amphipods and isopods) and Insecta (Odonata, Orthoptera, B lat- toidea, Heteroptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera Form icid ae ). A m on g these 96 species were Coleoptera, 14 Lepidoptera, and 22 Hymenop- tera Form icidae. Among collected Insects taxa, three ( OvthetVWTl trinacria (Seiys, 1 8 4 1 ) , Ochrilidia sicula Saifi, 1931 and Carabus faminii faminii Dejean, 1826) have already been proposed for inclusion in Annex II to Directive 92/43 EEC, while two (CalOTYievCl littoralis nemoralis (Olivier, 1 7 90), and Eurynebria COTTiplciVlCltCl ( Linnaeus, 1767) are included in annex A of regional law 6 April 2000 n. 56 of Tuscany A study case of Assessment of Impact using the invertebrates 189 Total BAR ACQ DIN MAG MAR TAM APR SAC EUC ACA PIN N of species 273 34 83 12! 105 109 98 135 54 72 57 64 faunistic value (VF) 89.75 9.017 13.623 14.510 7.540 10.115 7.682 12,959 2.811 4.723 3281 3.490 N of species with VF = 0.00! 169 17 45 75 62 64 57 88 29 40 33 38 N of species with VF> 0.001 104 17 38 46 43 45 41 47 25 32 24 26 N of species exclusives of habitat 39 5 16 l 0 2 4 11 0 0 0 1 1(h) 944 J4.59 15.87 8.67 i lit 8,74 14.44 338 549 3.89 4.17 Table 3. Distribution per habitat of species number, faunistic value, and fa unis tic value index. BAR = Shoreline and sandy shore; ACQ = Aquatic environment and riparian zone; DUN = Sand dune; MAG = JllYlipeVUS YYUJLvitimUS scrub ; MAR = Retama raetam scrub; tam = Tamarix groupings; a pr = Back dune open environment; sac = Saccarum monophytic groupings; EUC = Eucalyptus WStrata reforestation; ACA = Acadd SClligna reforestation; PIN = PinUS pined reforestation . VF = Faunistic value. 1(h) = Habi tat fa unis tic value index. Region (Ballerio, 2004). DocioStaUYUS minutUS L a Greca, 1 962 is endemic to southern Sicily, while five species (Ochrilidia sicula, Isomira paupercula (Baudi, 1883), NotOXUS siculliS L a Ferte -S en ec tere , 1 849, Temnothorax laestrygon (Sants chi, 1 9 3 1 ), and Temnothorax lagrecai (Baroni Urbani, 1964), and six subspecies ( Euchorthippus albolineatus siculus Ramme, 1927, ErodiuS Siculus Siculus Solier, 1 834, TaSgiuS falcifer aliquoi (Bordoni, 1 976), Tasgius globulifer evitendus (Tottenham, 1945), Tasgius pedator siculus (Aube, 1 842), and Pimelia rugulosa sublaevigata Solier, 1 8 3 6 ) are endemic to S icily. Twelve taxa show a distribution restricted to the Mediterranean basin. Among these, one species, Pimelia grossa Fabricius, 1792, has a Sardinian-Si- cilian-M aghrebian geonem y, four species, Ocneridia nigropunctata (Lucas, 1 849), Platycranus putoni Reuter, 1 8 79, Bl'OSCUS politUS (Dejean, 1 828), and Carabus faminii faminii, show a Sicilian-M aghrebian geonemy, while Cylindera trisignata siciliensis ( w . Horn, 1891) has a S ic ilian -Tun isian distribution, and Temnothorax kraussei (Emery, 19 16) shows a Sicilian-Sardinian-Corsican geonemy. Also, two taxa, Brachygluta aubei (Tournier, 1 867) and Plagiolepis schmitzi F orel, 1 895 in Italy are known only to Sicily, while two other, Orthetrum trinacria and Hypocacculus elongatulus (Rosenhauer, 1856) are known only to Sicily and Sardinia. Twenty four species could be considered steno- topes and/or stenoecious, sometimes with a strict and exclusive binding to a particular type of habitat. They often show populations of a few specimens and they are very localized and very sensitive to the an tropic disturbance (e.g. Orthetrum trinacria, Pterolepis annulata (Fieber, 1853), Ochrilidia sicula , Masoreus aegyptiacus Dejean, 1828, and Myrmica Sabuleti M e inert, 1861). Therefore, the insect fauna shows remarkable faunistic emergencies, which are related essentially to the dune and back-dunes eco- systems and to the open environments. In Table 3 are shown, for each habitat, its species number, its faunistic value, and its faunistic value index, while figure 3 shows, in decreasing order, the 1(h) values of each habitat. Figure 3. Histogram of 1(h) values of the different habitats in the study area. DUN = Sand dune; ACQ = Aquatic envir- onment and riparian zone; APR = Back dune open environ- ment; MAR = Retdnid raetam scrub; BAR = Shoreline and sandy shore; TAM = Tdmdrix gro up ing s ; MAG = JimiperUS maritimus seru b ; e u c = Eucalyptus rostrata re f o re s ta tio n ; pin = Pinus pinea reforestation; aca = Acacia saligna reforestation; SAC = Saccarum monophytic groupings . 190 Giorgio Sabella etalii The richest habitat in species has been the back dunes open environment (APR), followed by the sand dune (DUN), and by the scrub habitats (MAR and MAG). The reforestations (EUC, ACA, and PIN) are relatively poor in species, while the shoreline and sandy shore (BAR) is the habitat with the least number of taxa. The faunistic value of each habitat is equivalent to the sum of the faunistic values (VF) of the species present in its interior. The highest faunistic value is found in the sand dune (DUN), followed by the aquatic environment and riparian zone (ACQ), by the back dune open environment (APR), by the RetCUTlO. VCietCllfl scrub (MAR), and by the shoreline and sandy shore (BAR). These habitats take a particular value precisely in relation to the invertebrates fauna component, while the species of terrestrial Vertebrates not would have highlighted the importance of these habitat from the wildlife point of view. The lowest values are found, instead, in the Saccarum monophytic groupings (SAC) and in the reforestations (EUC, ACA, and PIN). The 1(h) values have been subdivided into 4 classes : - Class 1 Habitat of low faunistic value for 1(h) values ranging between 0.01 and 4. - Class 2 Habitat of medium faunistic value for 1(h) values ranging between 4.01and 8. - Class 3 Habitat of high faunistic value for 1(h) values ranging between 8.01 and 12. - Class 4 Habitat of very high faunistic value for 1(h) values ranging between 12.01 and 16. Relying on these classes, a map of the faunistic value of the study area was processed (Fig. 4); for some useful methods to the identification of the areas of faunistic interest see also Giunti et al. (2008), Sabella et al. (2009), Petralia (2010), Ingegnoli (2011), Petralia (2012). Figure 4. Map of the faunistic value of the study area (Gela Refinery, Sicily). A study case of Assessment of Impact using the invertebrates 191 The analysis of this map showed as the most part of the realization of the containment diaphragm concerned the areas of low or medium faunistic interest. On this base, the identification of the project potential impacts, and the propositions of an optimal allocation of building sites and of the safe- guard of the neighboring habitats with high natural- istic value were also possible. Were also proposed appropriate and effective m itigation measures, based on criteria, not aesthetic, but scientific and naturalistic. Specifically, renatura- tion actions with the restoration and the extension of the habitats of particular naturalistic interest, as back dune open environments and RetCllTlCl TCietCllTl scrubs in place of reforestations, have been provided. CONCLUSIONS The level of knowledge about the ecological responses of species and communities to environ- mental changes not still allows an accurate and precise quantification of their effects. The study of the invertebrate fauna, in relation to its great species richness and the various and articulated ecological requirements of the latter, allows a more detailed assessment of the environ- mental quality and a mo re accurate prediction of the changes that may occur in the structure and in the dynamics of the zoocoenosis in response to perturb- ations induced by the realization of a project. So this study, together with that of the Vertebrates, enables better the identification of the areas of faunistic interest and the evaluation of their value. Then it is possible a more accurate assessment of potential impacts of the project on wildlife and the proposal for suitable and effective mitigation measures and the post-operam monitoring the actual effectiveness of these latter. The study highlighted that, in unsuitable en- vironmental conditions to the stay of the vertebrates community, in relation to their high levels of anthropic disturbance and/or to the limited exten- sion of the territory, the study of invertebrates com- munities for the environmental quality assessment from the faunistic point of view can be very useful. In fact, confined habitats can retain good levels of animal biodiversity and represent a refuge for many rare species of invertebrates, and so they have a relevant importance for the wildlife conservation. Unfortunately, in impact assessment studies, the invertebrates are often completely neglected and the evaluations are based solely on the vertebrate species. When "Umbrella SpedeS " or habitats of community interest are lacking, the communities of invertebrates are, therefore, at risk. REFERENCES AA.VV., 2008. Atlante della Biodiversita della Sicilia: Vertebrati Terrestri. Studi e Ricerche, 6.Arpa Sicilia, P alerm o , 536 pp . 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Libro rosso degli animali d ’ italia - In vertebrati. W W F Italia Onlus, 83 pp. Directive 92/43/EEC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 1992, on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. Official Journal of European Union L 206, 22/07/1992. Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009, on the conservation of wild birds. Official Journal L 20/7, 26/01/2010. D.P.R. 8 settembre 1997 n. 357, Regolam ento recan te l’attuazione della Direttiva 92/43/CEE relativa alia conservazione degli habitat naturali e sem inaturali, nonche della flora e della fauna selvatiche. Supple- mento Ordinario alia G.U.R.I. n. 248 del 23 ottobre 1 997. Giunti M ., Castelli C ., Colliggiani L., Di Vittorio M., Ientile R. & Lastrucci B., 2008. Metodologia per l’individuazione di aree di i m porta nza faunistica. Estimo e Territorio, 2: 36-47. 192 Giorgio Sabella etalii Ingegnoli V., 2011. Bionomia del paesaggio. L'ecologia del paesaggio b io lo g ic o - in te g ra ta per la form azione di un “m edico” d e i sis tem i eco logic i. Springer-Verlag Italia, xix + 346 pp. IUCN, 2012. Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1. Second edition. Gland. Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IU C N , iv + 3 2 pp. IUCN, 2014. Red List of Threatened Species 2014.3. http://www.iucnredlist.org/. Legge 19 dicembre 1975 n. 874. Ratifica ed esecuzione della convenzione sul commercio internazionale delle specie animali e vegetali in via di estinzione, firm ata a Washington il 3 marzo 1973. Supple- mento Ordinario alia G.U.R.I. n . 49 del 24 febbraio 1 975. Legge 5 agosto 1981 n. 503, Ratifica ed esecuzione della convenzione relativa alia conservazione della vita selvatica e d ell’am b ie n te naturale in Europa, con allegati. adottata a Bern a il 19 settembre 1979. Supplem ento Ordinario alia G.U.R.I. n. 250 dell'll settem bre 19 8 1. 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Studi e Ricerche, 6.Arpa Sicilia, Palermo, 536 pp. M inelli A., Ruffo S. & La Posta S. (Eds.), 1993-1995. Checklist delle specie della fauna italiana. Calderini. Petralia E., 2010. Strum enti GIS per la p ia n ific a z io n e nelle aree protette: il caso di Vendicari: 395-406. In: Petralia A. (a cura di). L'Area protetta di Vendicari. Atti del Convegno Celebrativo per il 35° Anno di Fondazione dell’Ente Fauna Siciliana (Case Cittadella, Ve d ic ari- n o to (SR) 25-26 ottobre 2008). Collana Ecologia Phoenix, 1 2: 1-432. Petralia E., 2012. GIS for environmental planning in protected areas: fauna aspects. 2nd Djerba Interna- tional Mediterranean Environments Sustainability Conference 22-25 April 2012. Atti e Memorie dell'Ente Fauna Siciliana, 11: 109-116. Prola G. & Prola C ., 1 990. Libro rosso delle farfalle italiane.QuaderniWWF: 13,71 pp. Riservato E., Fabbri R., Festi A., Grieco C., Hardersen S., Landi F., Utzeri C., Ron din ini C., BattistoniA. & Teofili C. (comp ila tori), 2014. Lista rossa IUCN delle libellule Italiane. Comitato IUCN e Ministero dell'Ambiente e della tutela del Territorio e del M are, Roma, 39 pp. Ron din ini C., Battistoni A., Peronace V. & Teofili C. (compilatori), 2013. Lista Rossa dei Vertebrati italiani. Comitato Italiano IUCN e Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del M are. Roma, 54 pp . Ruffo S. & Stoch F. (Eds.), 2005. Checklist e dis- tri- buzione della fauna italiana. Memorie del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona, 2a serie, Sezione Scienze della Vita, 16. Sabella G., Alicata A., Sorrentino M . & Sorgi G., 2009. Aree di in ter esse faunistico: 61-81. In: Mancuso C., Martinico F., Nigrelli F. C. (a cura di). I Piani Territoriali Paesistici della provincia di Enna. Urbanistica Quaderni (collana dell’Istituto Nazionale d i U rb an is tic a ), 5 3: 1 -1 68. Sabella G., Lisi O. & Viglianisi F.M., 2015. The use of the entom ofauna in the studies of the Environmental Impact Assessment (E.I.A.) and Impact Assessment (I. A.). The International Congress on speciation and taxonomy. May 16th -18th 2014 Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy). Biodiversity Journal, 6: 1 75-1 84. Vigna TagliantiA.,Audisio P.A., Belfiore C., Biondi M ., Bologna M. A., Carpaneto G.M., De Biase A., De Felici S., Piattella E ., Racheli T., Zappa roli M . & Zoia S., 1992. Riflessioni di gruppo sui corotipi fon da- men tali della fauna W-paleartica ed in particolare italiana. Biogeographia. Lavori della Societa Italiana di B iogeografia, n. s., 16: 1 59-1 79. Vigna TagliantiA.,Audisio P.A., Biondi M ., Bologna M . A., Carpaneto G .M ., De Biase A., Fattorini S ., Piattella E., Sindaco R., VenchiA. & Zapparoli M., 1999. A proposal for a chorotype classification of the Near East fauna, in the framework of the Western Palearctic region. Biogeographia. Lavori della Societa Italiana di Biogeografia, n . s . , 20: 3 1- 59. Washington Convention 1973, on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 193-196 Monograph Diversity in the population of Brassica incana Ten.(Cruciferae) in Sicily Francesco Maria Raimondo &Vivienne Spadaro Dipartimento STEBICEF, Sezione di Botanica ed Ecologia Vegetale, Universita degli Studi di Palermo, via Archirafi 38, 90123 Palermo, Italy ABSTRACT Phenotipic diversity in Sicilian populations of Brassica incana Ten. (Cruciferae) is here ana- lyzed in comparison with the only one known population of B. raimondoi Sciandrello et al., taxonomic close species recently described from the coastal relief of eastern Sicily. The analysis of diagnostic characters of these two taxa does not reveal significant differences that justify a treatment at species level of the population of B. raimondoi. On this base, the authors deemed to include this taxon in the infraspecific variability of B. incana and consider most appropriate the rank of subspecies. Therefore is here proposed the establishment of the trinomial com- bination B. incana subsp. raimondoi. KEY WORDS Mediterranean flora; wild cabbage; Brassicaceae; taxonomy. Received 02.03.2015; accepted 21.03.2015; printed 30.05.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 16th- 18th 20 14, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION The Brassica Sect. Brassica (Cruciferae), is a taxon represented by numerous forms described both at specific and infraspecific level. The Sicilian floristic district (sensu Fenaroli & Giacomini, 1968) is considered the diversity center of this group, because its geographical area, including Sicily, its archipelagos and the islands of Malta and Gozo, expresses the greatest biodiversity of this Section seen that 70% of species related to it, not counting the many infraspecific taxa, is concentrated in this district. (Raimondo, 1997; Raimondo 2001). The flora of Sicily includes in this section: B. macro- carpa Guss., B. insularis Moris, B. rupestris Raf., B. villosa Biv., B. trichocarpa Brallo C. et al. and B. incana Ten. To these, recently, has been added B. raimondoi Sciandrello et al. (Fig. 1) very close to B. incana and described from around Castelmola (Messina), restricted area above the village of Taormina, locus classicus of the taxon (Sciandrello et al., 2013), next to one of the most classic coastal localities known of B. incana (Capo S. Alessio) (Fig. 2). As part of the taxonomic review of the different Sicilian populations of Sect. Brassica (Mazzola & Raimondo, 1988; Raimondo et al. 1 99 1 ; Raimondo & Mazzola, 1997), some taxa - previously considered at specific level as B. tinei Lojac., B. drepanensis (Caruel) Damanti and B. bivonana Mazzola et Rai- mondo were included in B. villosa at subspecific level. Similar treatment was given to some popula- tions of B. rupestris differing from the type of the species by phenotypic, ecological and distributive characters; they were directly assigned the rank of subspecies ( B . rupestris subsp. hirsuta Raimondo et Mazzola and B. rupestris subsp. brevisiliqua Rai- mondo et Mazzola) (Raimondo & Mazzola, 1997). Based on these premises, and on the discovery of a new population of B. incana s.str. (Tenore, 194 Francesco Maria Raimondo & Vivienne Spadaro 1812) on the Madonie Mountains (Raimondo in PAL), we wanted to deepen the analysis of the variability of this taxon foreseeing to include in it B. raimondoi, taxon for which we propose the rank of subspecies within B. incana. MATERIAL AND METODHS We studied the topotypical population of B. incana Ten. and of B. raimondoi (Sciandrello et al., 2013). Diagnostic characters of the two taxa repor- ted in Sciandrello et al. (2013) are analyzed and evalueted. In addition to morphological characters, the spatial distribution in comparison with the Sicilian populations of B. incana , in order to exclude possible genetic interferences between the populations, spatially but not orographic close, then, subjected to two different bioclimates. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Based on the analysis and evaluation of morpho- logical characters and the criteria followed in the interpretation of the variability occurring in the other species of the same group previously treated, the distinctive characters of the taxon are not suffi- ciently discriminating to interspecific level. The color of the petals is not a character that is distrib- uted continuously in B. incana. In Sicily, on the Tyrrhenian coast, between Capo d'Orlando and Gioiosa Marea (Messina), there are populations of this species with individuals with yellow or white flowers, respectively (Fig. 3), maintaining constant the other characters. In contrast, the same color of petals and lenght of siliques - given as discriminant of B. raimondoi by the authors - on the basis of the study of the topotypical population are not constant. In fact, although the white flowered individuals are prevalent, yellow flowered individuals occur scattered (Figs. 5, 6). The indumentum of flowering pedicel and sepals (Fig. 4), of stem and adult leaf hairless or weakly pubescent, are variable charac- ters in B. incana and therefore are not considered stable enough to be discriminating. Also in Brassica, the different characters of the siliqua, Mazzola & Raimondo (1988) distinguished B. bivonana from B. villosa, then reduced to the rank of subspecies of B. villosa by the same authors (Rai- mondo & Mazzola, 1997) [B. villosa subsp. bivonana (Mazzola & Raimondo) Raimondo & Mazzola]. Similarly, on the same characters and their variability was based the distinction, within B. rupestris, of a new subspecies occurring in the western limit of the distribution end of this species including the Tyrrhenian coast between the promontory of Cefalu (Palermo ) to the east, the promontory of Macari (Trapani) to the west and the inland of the Madonie and Palermo Mountains, including Rocca Busambra, to the south; it is the case of B. rupestris subsp. brevisiliqua Mazzola et Raimondo. In light of the above considerations and of the knowledge of the group, the authors believe that B. raimondoi is not sufficiently distinctat specific level and consider the population of Brassica of the cliffs of Castelmola (Messina) as part of the variability of B. incana, close and spatially overlapping to this taxon, present in the underlying Ionian coast, near Cape S. Alessio. Therefore, we give to it the follow- ing arrangement: Brassica incana Ten. subsp. raimondoi (Sciandr., C. Brullo, Brullo, Giusso, Miniss. et Salmeri) Raimondo & Spadaro stat. & comb. nov. Bas. Brassica raimondoi Sciandrello, C. Brullo, Brullo, Giusso, Minissale & Salmeri in PI. Biosyst. 147(3): 813 (2013). CHOROLOGICAL AND TAXONOMIC REMARKS In the Mediterranean Region, among the species of Brassica sect. Brassica, there are many endemic taxa. Two in particular have a distribution almost specular from north to south. They are B. insularis Moris and B. incana Ten. The first, to the west, from the French coast, via Sardinia, goes south to Pantelleria and Tunisia; the second extends its dis- tribution throughout the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts to Sicily, includingin this trajectory the eastern and western sides of the Italian peninsula to Sicily where B. incana occupies the eastern sector; the Madonie Mountains represent the southern- western limit. In the south-eastern part of the distribution of this species, an isolated population of the Ionian coastal sector of the Island, described sub B. Diversity in the population of Brassica incana Ten. (Cruciferae) in Sicily 195 Figure 1. Brassica raimondoi in flower (white): locus classicus, Castelmola, Jonian coast of Sicily. Figure 2. Brassica incana in flower (yellow): Capo S. Alessio, Taormina, Jonian coast of Sicily. Figure 3. Brassica incana at S. Gregorio, Capo d’Orlando, Tyrrenian coast of Sicily: plants with yellow and white flowers respectively. Figure 4. Comparison between Brassica raimondoi and B. incana s.str.: a (flower) and b (siliquae) of B. raimondoi ; c (flower) and d (siliquae) of B. incana (recomposed from Sciandrello et al., 2013). 196 Francesco Maria Raimondo & Vivienne Spadaro Figure 5. Brassica raimondoi, rarely with yellow flowers, in his locus classicus (Castelmola). Figure 6. Brassica raimondoi in the locus classicus (Castelmola): plants with white and yellow flowers respectively. raimondoi , has not significantly discriminant phenotypic characters which suggest to include the taxon within B. incana. For the small size of the pop- ulation and the spatial isolation of the population of B. raimondoi remains taxonomically distinct and still subject to subspecific level. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Study carried out as part of a project funded by the University of Palermo with the financial support of the Fondazione internazionale pro Herbario mediterraneo. REFERENCES Brullo C., Brullo S., Giusso del Galdo G. & Ilardi V., 2013. Brassica trichocarpa (Brassicaceae), a new species from Sicily. Phytotaxa, 122: 45-60. Fenaroli L. & Giacomini V., 1968. La Flora. Milano, T.C.I. Mazzola P. & Raimondo F.M., 1988. A new species of Brassica from Sicily. Lagascalia, 15 (extra): 249- 251. Raimondo F.M., 1997. Les membres italiens du com- plexe de Brassica oleracea: leur distribution et spe- cificites ecologiques. Bocconea, 7: 103-106. Raimondo F.M., 2001. Conservazione della flora in Ita- lia. II caso dei cavoli selvatici della Sicilia. Pp. 229- 241 in: Gomez-Campo C., Conservation de especies vegetales amenazadas en la region mediterranea oc- cidental. Madrid, Fondacion Areces. Raimondo F.M. & Mazzola P, 1997. A new taxonomic arrangement in the Sicilian member of Brassica L. sect Brassica. Lagascalia, 19: 831-838. Raimondo F.M., Mazzola P. & Ottonello D., 1991. On the taxonomy and distribution of Brassica sect. Bras- sica (Cruciferae) in Sicily. Flora Mediterranea, 1 : 63- 86 . Sciandrello S., Brullo C., Brullo S., Giusso del Galdo G., Minissale P. & Salmeri C., 2013. A new species of Brassica sect. Brassica (Brassicaceae) from Sicily. Plant Biosystems, 147: 812-820. Tenore M., 1812. Flora Napolitana, Prodromus. Stampe- ria Reale, Orto Botanico, Napoli. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 197-204 Monograph Taxonomy and conservation in Higher Plants and Bryophytes in the Mediterranean Area Gianniantonio Domina*, Giuseppe Bazan, Patrizia Campisi & Werner Greuter Orto botanico ed Herbarium Mediterraneum dell’Universita di Palermo, via Lincoln 2, 90133 Palermo, Italy ■"Corresponding author ABSTRACT The Mediterranean Region is among the areas of the world richest in wild and cultivated taxa. Extinctions in the Mediterranean area are bound to have occurred in historical times but they are not documented. The probable and documented cases of plant extinction in specific areas within the Mediterranean are equivalent to 0.25% of total species-by-area records. Species with a large range are more prone to local population size fluctuations and eventual extinction than species with a reduced population. Small islands floras are more prone to extinction than those on large islands and on the mainland. Reliability of our data on Mediterranean plant ex- tinctions is poor. New emphasis on floristic research is needed to boost our deficient knowledge of the Mediterranean flora. A closer collaboration between scholars and amateurs can increase floristic knowledge and also help unravel taxonomic problems. KEY WORDS vascular plants; mosses; extinctions; nomenclature. Received 11.01.2015; accepted 02.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6th- 1 8th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION The Mediterranean Region is among the areas of the world richest in wild and cultivated taxa. The vascular flora comprises about 25.000 species. 50% of the Flora (about 12.500 species) are endemic (Medail & Quezel, 1999). This richness is not due to high local species density but to small mean dis- tributional areas reflected in a remarkable number of narrow endemics (Greuter, 1991; 2001). In spite of this high biodiversity, not all Mediterranean countries have their own Red List of endangered plants as yet; it is therefore quite difficult to make between-country comparisons. An overview was offered by Leon et al. (1985), who summarised the risk status of endemics in Mediterranean countries. More recently new lists were prepared for single countries. The red list of the flora of Greece (Phitos et al., 2009) is an outstanding example. Global summaries for Europe have been presented by Sharrock & Jones (2009), Bilz et al. (2011), and Heywood (2012), but for the extra-European parts of the Mediterranean they are still wanting. MEDITERRANEAN VASCULAR PLANT EXTINCTIONS Extinctions in the Mediterranean area are bound to have occurred in historical times, with the advent of agriculture and the profound transformation of the biota it entailed; but they are not documented. Even the alleged extinction of the famous “silphium” is not proven with certainty. The plant, probably a Ferula or other giant umbellifer, was used in classical antiquity in medicine and was also 198 Gianniantonio Domina etalii fed to sheep and cattle. It was an essential item of trade with the ancient North African city of Cyrene (Fig. 1). By the first century A.C. the species, due to overgrazing and over-collection, was considered extinct in nature (Applebaum, 1979). However, from extant written documents and paintings it is not possible to name the plant with certainty. Its identity with several species has been suggested in lively and long-lasting debates, but it is still not possible to know for certain whether or not the plant is indeed extinct (Parejko, 2003). The probable and documented cases of plant ex- tinction in specific areas within the Mediterranean, as recorded in Med-Checklist volumes 1,3, and 4 (Greuter et al., 1984-1989), are 116, equivalent to 0.25% of 47,298 total species-by-area records (Greuter, 1991). The reported cases of total extinc- tions of taxa are 22 (0.17 % of 12,886 taxa), of which: 7 are “mystery cases”, 5 are cases of pos- sible or actual rescue, and 10 are genuine cases of (presumed) extinction (Greuter, 1991). Since 1991, continuing field research has resulted in even more reassuring figures: the 7 “mystery cases” remain the same, 4 cases of possible or actual rescue were added ( Coincya monensis subsp. puberula, Salvia peyronii, Silene rothmaleri, Silene tomentosa), bringing the total to 9; and of the genuine cases of (presumed) extinction, only 6 remain. The 7 “mystery cases” are: 1) Alyssum panicu- latum Desf. (Cruciferae), based on a painting by Aubriet, allegedly representing a Cretan plant found by Tournefort in 1700 that matches no species known to grow in that area. 2) Armeria arcuata Boiss. et Reuter (Plumbaginaceae), once collected by Welwitsch in Portugal and never again found; according to Nieto Feliner (1987) it may well have been an occasional intersectional hybrid. 3) Cam- panula pyrenaica A. DC. (Campanulaceae), based on two specimens, one allegedly from the Balearic islands, the other from the Pyrenees. It has recently been considered a synonym of Campanula sch- euchzeri Vill. (Castro viejo et al., 2010). 4) Genista melia Boiss. (Leguminosae), described from Milos (Cyclades, Greece) and once doubtfully reported from the Troad (Anatolia). The origin of the type, which may well belong to the W Mediterranean Genista scorpius complex, is in doubt. 5) Lathyrus allardii Batt. (Leguminosae), described from near Alger (Algeria) in 1879 and never seen since then. Its native status has already been doubted by its author. Perhaps it is only a form of Lathyrus gor- goni Park, native further east and occasionally in- troduced. 6) Quercus sicula Lojac. (Fagaceae), described from a tree cultivated in the Botanical Garden of Palermo of unknown, probably not Si- cilian origin. An altogether doubtful taxon, perhaps a mere variant of the Quercus pubescens complex. 7) Silene vulgaris subsp. aetnensis (Strobl) Pignatti (Caryophyllaceae), described in 1885, at varietal rank, from a single spot on Mt. Etna (Sicily). Considered an enigmatic plant not recently seen (Giardina et al., 2007). The 9 cases of possible or actual rescue are: 1) Coincya monensis subsp. puberula (Pau) Leadlay (Brassicaceae), described in 1902 from Sanijan in Galicia (Spain) but looked for unsuccessfully in its locus classicus by Castroviejo (1982), was reported from 4 localities in 1995 (Vioque & Pastor, 1995). 2) Diplotaxis siettiana Maire (Brassicaceae), an endemic of Alboran island (Spain) where its only population has recently been destroyed. It survives in cultivation and seed banks, and reintroduction into its native habitat looks promising (Perez Latorre & al., 2013). 3) Erodium astragaloides Boiss. et Reuter (Geraniaceae), described from Sierra Nevada (Spain) where it has always been rare and was not again found in this century, was re- cently rediscovered in the Sierra de Cazorla (Gomez-Campo, 1987). 4 ) Lysimachia minoricensis Rodr. (Primulaceae), an endemic of Menorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) that has disappeared from its natural habitat but survives in cultivation. Rein- troduction into its original habitat has been attemp- ted (see Gomez-Campo, 1987) but so far has not been successful, although attempts continue (Galicia Herbada & Fraga Arquimbau, 2011). 5) Onobrychis aliacmonia Rech. f. (Leguminosae), described from Greek Macedonia, had its single loc- ality, on the banks of Aliakmon River, flooded by an artificial lake in c. 1975. A very similar plant, dis- covered in Laconia (Peloponnesus), was first iden- tified with it but later described as a distinct subspecies then species, O. peloponnesiaca (Iatrou et Kit Tan) Iatrou et Kit Tan. The genuine O. aliac- monia was rediscovered in 1985 close to its clas- sical locality, where it managed to colonise new habitats (Greuter, 1987). 6) Limonium dufourii (Girard) Kuntze (Plumbaginaceae), an endemic of the Albufera de Valencia (Spain), first described in 1842, last seen in 1972, was considered a victim of Taxonomy and conservation in Higher Plants and Bryophytes in the Mediterranean Area 199 Fig. 1. Sylver Coin of Cyrene dating back late 6th-early 5th centuries BC. depicting the silphium © Trustees of the British Museum (Reproduced by kind permission of the British Museum of London) on the left and Ferula communis on the right. reclamation of its native wetland areas. At present, 6 small populations are known to have survived (Laguna et al., 1994). 7) Salvia peyronii Post (Lamiaceae), discovered in 1883 on cliffs near Feitroun (Lebanon) and never seen until recently, although it is showy and had been looked for re- peatedly, was found again in the same area (Jabal Moussa) in 201 1 (Tohme & Tohme, 2011). 8) Silene rothmaleri Pinto da Silva (Caryophyllaceae), de- scribed in 1945 from Cabo S. Vicente (Algarve, Portugal) and not seen since in spite of a thorough search by Jeanmonod (Greuter & Raus, 1984), was rediscovered in 2000 (Dinter & Greuter, 2004). 9) Of Silene tomentosa Otth (Caryophyllaceae) a few 1 9th-Century specimens were known, all from the E side of the Gibraltar rock (Spain), but until 1984 none had been collected in the 20th Century (Jean- monod, 1984). In 1994 the species was rediscove- red growing in the wild and is since cultivated in the Alameda Botanical Gardens (Linares, 1998). The 6 remaining cases of (presumed) extinction are: 1) Cephalaria kesruanica Mouterde (Dip- sacaceae), discovered in 1939 in Lebanon. Its type locality was probably destroyed; a record from a further locality requires confirmation (Mouterde, 1980). 2) Trachelanthus foliosus (Paine) Tristram (Boraginaceae), discovered in Jordan in 1973 and found in a second locality in 1886. It has not been seen again (Feinbrun, 1978). 3 ) Dianthus multinervis Vis. (Caryophyllaceae) discovered by Botteri on the isolated islet of Jabuka (Porno, Croatia) where it was not collected again and has probably disap- peared (Greuter, 1995). 4) Fibigia heterophylla Rech. f. (Brassicaceae), discovered in 1911 between Homs and Palmyra in Syria and never again collec- ted (Mouterde, 1970). 5) Morina subinermis Boiss. (Dipsacaceae), described from plants collected in Bithynia (Anatolia) without exact locality and never seen since, although it is a showy species. 6) Trifo- lium acutiflorum Murb. (Leguminosae). Described from Murbeck’s own gathering made at Marrakesh (Morocco), but never collected again in spite of thorough searches (Fennane & Ibn Tattou, 1998). The above figures do not refer to the entire Mediterranean vascular flora but only to that part (ca. 45 %) covered by the first three published volumes of Med-Checlclist (Greuter et al., 1984- 1989). An attempt has subsequently been made by Greuter (1994) to produce a similar list for the entire Mediterranean flora, using various other sources. The result was a table with 33 names, not taking into account the “mystery cases” and redeemed species. Of the taxa in this second list 21 are addi- tional to the first, of which 12 were included bit not 200 Gianniantonio Domina etalii considered extinct in Med- Checklist and 9 have not yet been treated in that work. Focusing on the former, we find that not all are worthy additions to the extinct (Ex) category. One represents an inter- specific hybrid ( Thalictrum simplex subsp. gallicum (Rouy et Fouc.) Tutin = T.xtimeroyi Jord., see Hand 2001). Limonium dubyi (Gren. et Godr.) Kuntze, described from France, is currently included in the synonymy of L . bellidifolium (Gouan) Dumort. T ephrosia kassasii Boulos, from the borders of the Nile in Egypt, is not considered as extinct in that country’s recent floristic and conservational literat- ure. Thymus oehmianus Ronniger et Soslca obvi- ously survives in its locus classicus in the Treska gorge, as its live portrait appears on a recent (2003) postage stamp of the FYR Makedonija. Of the 7 Turkish endemics listed on the faith of Ekim et al. (1989), 4 apparently survive according to recent assessments of that country’s flora (Ekim et al., 2000, Eken et al., 2006): Campanula oligosperma Damboldt, Onosma affinis Riedl, Sedum polystri- atum R.T. Clausen, and Silene oligotricha Hub.- Mor. This leaves us with a reduced number of 4 genuine, additional presumed extinctions: Local and Global extinctions Species with a large range are more prone to local population size fluctuations and eventual extinction than species with a reduced population. Neslia paniculata (L.) Desv. (Brassicaceae) is an example of a species with large distribution that registered important local extinctions at the borders of its range (Fig. 2). Spirodela polyrrhiza (L.) Schleid. (Lemnaceae), a species distributed almost world-wide, was considered extinct in Catalonia but has been found in the lower course of the Ebro River and in the Vallvidrera reservoir (Curto et al., 2013). Rhamphidium purpuratum Mitt. (Bryophyta, Ditrichaceae), known to be widely distributed in Macaronesia and Crete, had its only mainland site, known since 1940, in the north of Portugal. The Fig. 2. Distribution of Neslia paniculata from Jalas et al. (1996). The crosses in the NW part of the distribution indicate the extinction of the plant in that area. Taxonomy and conservation in Higher Plants and Bryophytes in the Mediterranean Area 201 species was considered as vulnerable in the European Red List (www.bio.ntnu.no/ECCB/ RDB Taxon.php), and later considered extinct in Portugal by Sergio et al. (1994, 2001). After more than 60 year it was found again in south-west Portugal near the Monchique mountains (Sergio et al. 2011). For taxa with a single locality destruction of the habitat implies its complete loss: Adenostyles alpina subsp. nebrodensis (Wagenitz et I. Mull.) Greuter (Asteraceae) is known from a single loc- ality in a canyon of the Madonie Mountains (Sicily); the capture of a source, c. 50 years ago, has aridified the area and brought the taxon to the brink of extinction, with but a single individual still alive. Limonium catanense (Lojac.) Brullo (Plumba- ginaceae), at the beginning of the 20th century, was only known in an area that now belongs to the harbour of Catania. Small islands floras are more prone to extinction than those on large islands and on the mainland (Greuter, 1995). This may be due to the greater fra- gility of island habitats due to their smaller surface and higher human pressure (Domina & Mazzola, 2011). The population of Daucus rupestris Guss. (Apiaceae) on Lampione is extremely depleted and faces im min ent extinction due to high concentration of nitrogen from gull droppings, of which the plant is intolerant (Lo Cascio & Pasta, 2012). Limonium intermedium (Guss.) Brullo (Plumbaginaceae) was growing on Lampedusa in a salt marsh near the harbour, now converted to a soccer field (Fig. 3); at present only some individuals survive in the Bota- nical Garden of Catania, grown from seed sampled in the field about 40 years ago (Brullo, pers. comm.). Cistus xskanbergii Lojac. (Cistaceae) is the natural hybrid between C. monspeliensis and C. parviflorum and occurs in scattered localities in the Mediterranean, wherever the two parents meet. It was described from the island of Lampedusa (Italy), where today but a single individual is known and only one parent still occurs. Efforts to conserve that individual would be a futile exercise. There are several cases of old, unconfirmed records, due perhaps to misidentification, and of taxa of uncertain taxonomic position, that must be taken into account in management and conservation plans for endangered species. Orobanche aegyp- tiaca Pers. (Orobanchaceae) was reported in error from Italy (Monte Gallo and Lampedusa). It was re- corded in Scoppola & Spampinato (2005) as being Fig. 3. The soccer field in Lampedusa on the place of the salt marsh near the harbour locus classicus et unicus of Limonium in termedium . very rare and endangered. The study of specimens from both sites showed that they had been misiden- tified and belong to O. mutelii F.W. Schultz (Domina et al., 201 1). Euphrasia mendoncae Samp. (Orobanchaceae) was described by Sampson in 1936 from specimens collected in 1932 by F. Mendonga and thought to be endemic to Braganga (Portugal). It was never found again despite extens- ive searches in 1990 and 1996. In Flora Iberica (Vitek, 2009) now it is treated as a synonym of E. minima Jacq. ex DC. The presence of such non- species in lists of plants requiring protection diverts attention from others that are really threatened. Among the mosses there are also cases of taxa considered as extremely rare or extinct, only to be later included in other, widely distributed taxa. Clasmatodon parvulus (Hampe) Sull. (Bra- chytheciaceae) was believed to occur in North America and very rarely in Germany and Spain. Meinunger (1992) deemed it as extinct in Germany because it had not been found again since 1851, and it came to be known as one of the rarest mosses of the European continent (Frey et al., 1995; Dull, 1985), being so was included as endangered (EN) in the Red Data Book of European Bryophytes (Schu- macker & Martiny, 1995). Eleras et al. (2006) found that both the German and Spanish records were based on misidentified plants of Pseudoleskeella tectorum (Funck ex Brid.) Kindb. ex Broth, and must be ex- cluded from the European and Mediterranean bry- oflora. Thamnium cossyrense Bott. (Neckeraceae), described by Bottini (1907), was considered en- demic to Pantelleria until 2001, when Mastracci 202 Gianniantonio Domina etalii (2001) included it in Scorpiurium sendtneri (Schimp.) M. Fleisch., a species widely distributed in Mediterranea area. Fissidens exiguus Sull. (Fis- sidentaceae), considered rare in France and Greece (Schumacker & Martiny, 1995), is now synonymised with F. bryoides Hedw., a common taxon in Temperate areas (Pursell, 2007). Likewise, Trichosto- mopsis aaronis (Lorentz) S. Agnew & C. C. Towns (Pottiaceae), thought to be a rare taxon of Spain and Turkey (Schumacker & Martiny, 1995), has recently been synonymised with Didymodon australasiae (Hook, et Grev.) R. H. Zander, a common taxon throughout the Mediterranean area (Ros et al., 2013). DELIMITATION OF TAXA Different delimitation bear on the range and the conservation status of taxa (Lastrucci et al., 2014). A glaring example is Thymus herba-barona Loisel. that can either be considered to comprise a single taxon, occurring in the Balearic islands, Corsica and Sardinia (Molins et al., 2011), or split into different taxa based on chromosome number: the diploid Thymus herba-barona subsp. bivalens Mayol et al. (2n = 28), endemic to a single locality in Serra D’Aljabia (Mallorca) with only about 50 mature individuals; Thymus herba-barona subsp. herba- barona , tetraploid (2n = 56) growing in Corsica, and T. catharinae Camarda, hexaploid (2n = 84), restricted to Sardinia. Arenaria bolosii (Canig.) L. Saez et Rossello (Caryophyllaceae), a critically endangered taxon only known from a single site on the island of Mal- lorca (Bibiloni & Mus, 2006), was first described as a variety, Arenaria grandiflora var. bolosii Canig., then considered a subspecies, A. grandiflora subsp. bolosii (Canig.) Colom, eventually to be recognised a as a separate species. Some taxonomists, called lumpers, tend to fa- vour a broad taxon concept, whereas others, known as splitters, emphasize minute differences. These preferences depend in part on the size of the area on which a researcher is working. Those who study plants of a restricted territory will likely search for differences whereas botanists with a broad geogra- phical interest may favour a synthetic approach. Several taxa considered to be narrow endemics can just as well be interpreted as local expressions of wide-ranging taxa. However, as long as there can be reasonable doubt it is better to maintain the local taxa rather than letting them disappear in synonymy. As an example, in Pancratium maritimum L., some populations may not deserve the status of separate species yet they possess a well-diversified genome that deserves being preserved (Giovino et al., 2015). CONSIDERATIONS New emphasis on floristic research is needed to boost our deficient knowledge of the Mediterranean flora. Amateurs, if well directed, can play an impor- tant role in this endeavour. Many academic scholars spend much of their time and efforts in the laborat- ory, to the detriment of field research, yet they may dispose of funds for networking that allow combin- ing the efforts of amateurs over a wider geograph- ical area than they might cover individually. A closer collaboration between scholars and amateurs can, by promoting field research by the latter, not only increase floristic knowledge but also help unravel taxonomic problems. Lists of taxa that are part of laws or regulations and their annexes should be updated at regular intervals. In order to apply to the originally intended taxa they must use their currently correct names; but they should also, in addition, include synonyms to reflect historical usage and accommodate altern- ative taxonomic views. 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Aportaciones al conoci- miento cariologico del genero Coincya (Brassicaceae) en la peninsula iberica. Studia Botanica, 14: 143— 151. Vitek E., 2009. Euphrasia. In Castroviejo S., Benedi C., Rico E., Giiemes J. & Herrero A. (Eds.), Flora Iberica, 13. CSIC, Madrid, 454^173. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 205-214 Monograph Diversity in the genus Hieracium Linnaeus s. str. (Asteraceae) in Sicily Emilio Di Gristina 1 ’*, Francesco Maria Raimondo 1 & Pietro Mazzola 2 'Dipartimento STEBICEF, Sezione di Botanica ed Ecologia Vegetale, Universita degli Studi di Palermo, via Archirafi 38, 90123 Palermo, Italy; e-mail: francesco.raimondo@unipa.it 2 Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, Universita degli Studi di Palermo, via Archirafi 38, 90123 Palermo, Italy; e-mail: pietro.mazzola@unipa.it ’Corresponding author, e-mail: emilio.digristina@unipa.it ABSTRACT The present taxonomic and floristic knowledges on Hieracium L. s. str. in Sicily are commen- ted. In total, 1 1 taxa occur in this island, 10 of which are endemic and 1 has a wider range. For each of these taxa, biological form, phenology, distribution, ecology, chromosome number, conservation, and taxonomy are taken in consideration. A key to the taxa is also provided. KEY WORDS Apomixis; conservation; endemism; taxonomy; vascular plants. Received 02.11.2014; accepted 13.02.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6th- 1 8th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION Hieracium Linnaeus (1753) s. str. (Asteraceae) is well known as one of the most species-rich plant group in the world. It includes perennial herbs distributed predominantly in temperate regions of Europe, Asia and North America (Chrtek et al., 2006). Hieracium belongs to a group of genera in which diplosporous agamospermy and polyploidy seem to prevail (Chrtek et al., 2006). The great majority of Hieracium taxa are triploid (2n=27) or tetraploid (2n=36) apomicts (Mraz et al., 2001). Sexuality is extremely rare and confined to a few diploid species, mostly distributed in South Europe (Merxmuller, 1975; Chrtek et al., 2004). Hybridization also appears as a very rare phenomenon and is most likely confined to crosses between diploid sexual species (Chrtek et al., 2006). Agamospermy together with sexuality and hybrid- ization in the past have given rise to a very large number of variants that have been described as sub- species, as has traditionally been the case in Central Europe (Zahn, 1921-1923), or at rank of species (British Isles, Scandinavia, East Europe) (Mraz et al., 2001; Chrtek et al., 2006). The Sicilian taxa (Fig. 1) have recently been revised as for as taxonomy and distribution are con- cerned (Raimondo & Di Gristina, 2004, 2007a, b; Di Gristina et al., 2005, 2006; Geraci et al., 2007; Di Gristina et al., 2012; Gottschlich et al., 2013; Di Gristina et al., 2013; Caldarella et al., 2014). These studies have already resulted in the description of five new taxa: Hieracium racemosum subsp. pignattianum (Raimondo & Di Gristina, 2004) Greuter (2007), H. schmidtii subsp. madoni- ense (Raimondo & Di Gristina, 2007b) Greuter (2007), H. pallidum subsp. aetnense Gottschlich, Raimondo & Di Gristina (2013), H hypochoeroides subsp. montis-scuderii Di Gristina, Gottschlich, Galesi, Raimondo & Cristaudo (2013) and H. busambarense Caldarella, Gianguzzi & Gottschlich (2014). 206 Emilio Di Gristina etalii Furthermore, the names of four taxa described by Michele Lojacono (1903), H. cophanense, H. crinitum var. caulescens , H. crinitum var. eriosta- chyum and H. nebrodense, have been typified by Aghababyan et al. (2008). The remaining five accepted taxa described from Sicily, H. crinitum Smith (1813), H. lucidum Gussone (1825), H. atro- virens Froelich (1838), H. pallidum Bivona- Bernardi (1838), H. symphytifolium Froelich (1838), and three other names usually treated as synonyms, H. racemosum subsp. todaroanum Zahn (1922), H. siculum Gussone (1844) and H. siculum var. minus Gussone (1844), have been typified by Di Gristina et al. (2012). On the whole, at present, several taxonomic and chorological questions still remain open. Among these, several issues of biodiversity conservation are important especially for some strictly local apomictic endemics, that are often considered of secondary relevance respect to sexual species (Rich et al., 2008) and, then overridden as for as conser- vation is concerned. Presently, an extensive field survey on the Sici- lian territory is carried. The programme includes: (1) field surveys in order to verify the occurrence of the taxa known only from old reports or herbar- ium data but not recently observed, (2) the collec- tion of data of biological, ecological or phyto- geographical interest for in situ and ex situ con- servation. A molecular approach using “DNA barcoding”, in order to define the phylogenetic and systematic relationships among the Sicilian taxa, and a cyto- geographical analyses at population level, are also in full progress. Waiting for a comprehensive update account of the genus, the framework of present knowledge is here summarized for each taxon. Figure 1. Distribution of the Sicilian Hieracium taxa. A) Hieracium busambarense; B) H. hypochoeroides subsp. montis- scuderii; C) H. lucidum ; D) H. lucidum subsp. cophanense ; E) H. murorum subsp. atrovirens; F) H. pallidum', G) H. pallidum subsp. aetnense; H) H. racemosum subsp. crinitum; I) H. racemosum subsp. pignattianum; L) H. schmidtii subsp. madoni- ense; M) H. symphytifolium. Diversity in the genus Hieracium Linnaeus s. str. (Asteraceae) in Sicily 207 MATERIAL AND METHODS Floristic, herbarium, and literature research carried out between 1999 and 2014 are surveyed here. Specimens collected in the respective loci classici and some other Sicilian localities are stored in PAL. Zahn’s species and subspecies concept (Zahn, 1921-1 923) has been adopted for taxonomic nomenclature. Biological forms, following Raunkiaer’s classification (1934), are abbreviated as proposed by Pignatti (1982). Chromosome numbers come from our karyological analyses and other literature data. Conservation status follows the IUCN (2010) criteria. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In Sicily Hieracium s. str. is so far represented by 1 1 taxa. 1 0 of them ( H . busambarense, H. hy- pochoeroides subsp. montis-scuderii, H. lucidum, H. lucidum subsp. cophanense, H. murorum subsp. atrovirens, H. pallidum , H. pallidum subsp. aetnense , H. racemosum subsp. pignattianum, H. schmidtii subsp. madoniense and H. symphytifo- lium ) are endemic to the island; the remaining (//. racemosum subsp. crinitum ) has a wider range. These taxa are well differentiated from morpholo- gical point of view and belong to sections Bifida (Arv.-Touv.) Clapham, Grovesiana Gottschl., Italica (Fr.) Arv.-Touv., Hieracium (Pulmonaria Monnier), Oreadea (Fr.) Arv.-Touv. Most of them are chasmo- phytes confined to vertical cliffs or rocky slopes. Their chorology and ecology testify the relict state of the genus Hieracium in Sicily. The island is indeed situated at the southern border distribution of the genus (see map in Brautigam, 1992) and its climatic conditions are suitable for only a few taxa of Hieracium (Gottschlich et al., 2013). However, among them, the diploid H. lucidum , according to Pignatti (1979, 1982, 1994), ascribes the interesting role of likely differentiation centre of the genus to Sicily. Most of the taxa are endemic to restricted areas (one population with an estimated area of occu- pancy less than 1 0 km 2 ) in which periodical wild- fires occur. Therefore, according to the IUCN (2010) criteria for the conservation status assess- ment, they should be classified as “Critically Endangered” (CR). Their phytogeographical and taxonomical relevance, together with the extreme conservation status require special protection meas- ures. Unfortunately, the current status and priorities for conservation of the Hieracium taxa, as for many other Sicilian endemics, are poorly known, and consequently they are neglected by local admin- istrations. Taxonomic list Hieracium busambarense Caldarella, Gianguzzi et Gottschl., PL Biosystems, 148: 439. 2014. H. sect. Grovesiana Gottschl. Biological form. H ros/ H scap. Phenology. Flowering from second half of June to first decade of July; fruiting in July (Cal- darella et al., 2014). Distribution and Ecology. Chasmophyte endemic to Rocca Busambra (PA) (CW-Sicily) (Fig. 2). Calcareous-dolomite vertical cliffs between 1500 and 1600 m a.s.l, in shaded localities (Cal- darella et al., 2014). Chromosome number. Unknown. Conservation status. “Critically Endangered” (CR): C2ab(i) (Caldarella et al., 2014). Taxonomical notes. H. busambarense belongs to the H. Sect. Grovesiana, recently described from Italy (Gottschlich, 2009). Its distribution area is located at the extreme southern limit of the Apennines range of that section, therefore it could be interpreted as an endemo-vicariant unit, probably originated after the long geographical isolation of the population on Rocca Busambra (Caldarella et al., 2014). Among the taxa of H. Sect. Grovesiana, H. busambarense appears very close to the Calabrian endemic H. terraccianoi Di Gristina, Gottschlich & Raimondo (2014), but it differs from this species in having no spotted leaves, more acute involucral bracts and in the bract indumentum (less stellate hairs and more glandular hairs) (Di Gristina et al., 2014). Hieracium hypochoeroides subsp. montis-scuderii Di Grist., Gottschl., Galesi, Raimondo et Cristaudo, FI. Mediterr., 23: 49. 2013. 208 Emilio Di Gristina etalii H. sect. Bifida (Arv.-Touv.) Clapham Biological form. H ros. Phenology. Flowering June; fruiting from June to the first decade of July. Distribution and Ecology. Chasmophyte endemic to Mt Scuderi (ME) (NE-Sicily) (Fig. 3). NW-facing carbonate rocks and vertical cliffs between 1 145 and 1180m a.s.l. Chromosome number. Unknown. Conservation status. “Critically Endangered” (CR): Bla+2a; C2a(ii). Taxonomical notes. H. hypochoeroides s.l. is a young aggregate of apomictic microtaxa with often local distribution, that have evolved during the post-glacial period. The map given by Brautigam (1992, under the name H. wiesbauri- anum) indicates a very disjunct area. Only in southern France an extensive closed area exists. In southern Europe one can only find local popula- tions, most of them seem to be relict (Di Gristina et al., 2014). H. hypochoeroides subsp. montis- scuderii is also such relict endemic taxon. Hieracium lucidum Guss., Index Sem. Hort. Boccadifalco 1825: 6. 1825. FI. sect. Italica (Fr.) Arv.-Touv. Biological form. Ch suffr. Phenology. Flowering from October to Novem- ber; fruiting in November. Distribution and Ecology. Chasmophyte endemic to Mt Gallo (PA) (NW- Sicily) (Fig. 4). NW-facing calcareous rocks and vertical cliffs between 220 and 310 m a.s.l. Chromosome number. 2n = 18 (Merxmiiller, 1975; Brullo & Pavone, 1978; Brullo et al., 2004). Conservation status. “Critically Endangered” (CR): Bla+2a; C2a(ii). Taxonomical notes. H. lucidum is one of the few diploid species in the whole genus. Therefore it could be considered as a probable ancestor for many European Hieracium taxa (Pignatti 1979, 1982, 1994). Hieracium lucidum subsp. cophanense (Lojac.) Greuter, Willdenowia, 37: 164. 2007. = H. cophanense Lojac., FI. Sic. 2(1): 218. 1903. H. sect. Italica (Fr.) Arv.-Touv. Biological form. Ch suffr. Phenology. Flowering from October to Novem- ber; fruiting in November. Distribution and Ecology. Chasmophyte endemic to Mt Cofano and Mt Passo del Lupo (TP) (NW-Sicily) (Fig. 5). NW-facing calcareous rocks and vertical cliffs between 220-280 and 670-710 m a.s.l. Chromosome number. 2n = 18 (Brullo et al., 2004; Geraci et al., 2007). Conservation status. “Critically Endangered” (CR): Bla+2a; C2a(ii). Taxonomical notes. It differs from H. lucidum in having few to moderately dense simple hairs on the stem and on the margin, along the midrib at the lower surface of the basal and cauline leaves. Hieracium murorum subsp. atrovirens (Froel.) Raimondo et Di Grist., Willdenowia, 37: 165. 2007. = H. atrovirens Froel., in Candolle, Prodr. 7: 231. 1838. H. sect. Hieracium (Pulmonaria Monnier) Biological form. H scap/ H ros. Phenology. Flowering June; fruiting from June to first decade of July. Distribution and Ecology. Endemic to the Madonie Mountains (PA) (N-Sicily) (Fig. 6), along the NW-facing carbonate rocks and stony slopes of the Passo della Botte and Rocca di Mele (Petralia Sottana, PA), in clearings of the beech forest, between 1350 and 1580 m a.s.l. Chromosome number. 2n = 3x = 27 (Geraci et al., 2007). Conservation status. “Critically Endangered” (CR): B 1 a+2a; C2a(ii). Taxonomical notes. In the past, the taxonomic rank has been rather controversial. It was described as an species (Froelich, 1838), but it was sub- Diversity in the genus Hieracium Linnaeus s. str. (Asteraceae) in Sicily 209 Figures 2-7. Blooming individuals in nature of: Fig. 2) Hieracium busambarense (from Caldarella et al., 2014); Fig. 3) H. hypochoeroicles subsp. montis-scuderii; Fig. 4) H. lucidum; Fig. 5) H. lucidum subsp. cophanense; Fig. 6) H. murorum subsp. atrovirens; Fig. 7) H. pallidum. sequently considered as synonym of H. murorum Linnaeus (1753) (Fries, 1862; Belli, 1904) or of H. glaucinum Jordan (1848) (Zahn, 1921;Fiori, 1928). Recently, the Sicilian population has been con- sidered distinct and treated at subspecific rank of H. murorum (Raimondo & Di Gristina, 2007). Hieracium pallidum Biv., in Bivona-Bernardi, Nuove piante: 11. 1838. H. sect. Grovesiana Gottschl. Biological form. H ros/ H scap. Phenology. Flowering from second half of June to first decade of July; fruiting in July. Distribution and Ecology. Chasmophyte endemic to Mt Etna (CT) (E-Sicily) (Fig. 7). Shaded volcanic rocks and stony slopes of Mt. Pomiciaro, Mt Zoccolaro and Serra del Salifizio fa- cing the Valle del Bove (Zafferana Etnea, CT), between 1550 and 1900 m a.s.l. Chromosome number. 2n = 4x = 36 (Brullo et al., 2004; Di Gristina et al., 2005). Conservation status. “Critically Endangered” (CR): B 1 a+2a; C2a(ii). Taxonomic al notes. According to Greuter (2008), it should be placed in the “collective species” (Zahn, 1921-1923) H. schmidtii. Never- theless, the presence of 2 cauline leaves with winged petioles (in H. schmidtii s.l. 0-1 not winged leaf per stalk) allow to treat it as a local endemic species to Sicily belonging to H. sect. Grovesiana (Gottschlich et al., 2013). Hieracium pallidum subsp. aetnense Gottschl., Raimondo et Di Grist., PI. Biosystems, 147: 826. 2013. H. sect. Grovesiana Gottschl. 210 Emilio Di Gristina etalii Biological form. H scap. Phenology. Flowering from second half of June to first decade of July; fruiting in July. Distribution and Ecology. Endemic to Mt Etna (CT) (E-Sicily) (Fig. 8). Volcanic soil, on the border and in clearings of scrubland in a very restricted area on Mt Pomiciaro (Zafferana Etnea, CT), between 1580 and 1650 m a.s.l. Chromosome number. 2n = 4x = 36 (Di Gristina et al., 2014). Conservation status. “Critically Endangered” (CR): B2ab(iii, v); C2a(ii), D. Taxonomical notes. Closely related to H. pallidum , but different by morphology of basal leaves (more lanceolate and dentate), number of cauline leaves (up to 3) and by peduncles and bracts indumentum (more simple hairs and stellate hairs only at the margin of the bracts). Hieracium racemosum subsp. crinitum (Smith) Rouy, FI. France, 9: 410. 1905. = H. crinitum Sm., FI. Graec. Prodr., 2: 134. 1813. = H. crinitum var. caulescens Lojac., FI. Sic., 2(1): 219. 1903; H. crinitum var. eriostachyum Lojac., FI. Sic., 2(1): 219. 1903; H. racemosum subsp. todaroanum Zahn, in Engler, Pflanzenr., 79: 979. 1922. H. sect. Italica (Fr.) Arv.-Touv. Biological form. H scap/ H ros. Phenology. Flowering from second half of August to first decade of November; fruiting from September to second decade of November. Distribution and Ecology. Corsica, Italy, Balkan Peninsula and Turkey (Fiori, 1928; Pignatti, 1982). In Sicily (Fig. 9), the taxon frequently occurs in shaded stony slopes and in clearings of woods on the main mountains of north-east (Nebrodi, Peloritani and Etna) and on the islands of Salina and Lipari (Lojacono, 1903), between 350 and 1750 m a.s.l. Chromosome number. 2n = 3x = 27 (Brullo et al., 1997, 2004; Geraci et al., 2007). Conservation status. “Least Concern” (LC). Taxonomical notes. Taxon highly polymorph- ous. Sicilian and southern Italy populations appear very differentiated and need critical revision. Hieracium racemosum subsp. pignattianum (Rai- mondo et Di Grist.) Greuter, Willdenowia, 37: 171. 2007. = H. pignattianum Raimondo & Di Grist., PI. Biosystems, 17: 314. 2004. H. sect. Italica (Fr.) Arv.-Touv. Biological form. H scap/ H ros. Phenology. Flowering from second half of August to October; fruiting from September to first decade of November. Distribution and Ecology. Endemic to the Madonie Mountains (PA) (N-Sicily) (Fig. 10), along the NW-facing carbonate rocks and stony slopes of Mt Mufara (Isnello, Polizzi Generosa, Petralia Sottana, PA), Mt Quacella (Polizzi Gen- erosa, PA), Mt Daino, Cozzo del Filatore, Pizzo dellTnferno and Rocca di Mele (Petralia Sottana, PA), in clearings of the beech forest, between 1300 and 1700 m a.s.l. Chromosome number. 2n = 3x = 27 (Raimondo & Di Gristina, 2004). Conservation status. “Vulnerable” (VU): Bla + 2a. Taxonomical notes. Similar to subsp. crinitum but the two subspecies show marked differences regarding indumentum, leaf morphology and size of the bracts (Raimondo & Di Gristina, 2004). Hieracium schmidtii subsp. madoniense (Rai- mondo & Di Grist.) Greuter, Willdenowia, 37: 173. 2007. = H. madoniense Raimondo & Di Grist., Boc- conea, 141: 86. 2007. H. sect. Oreadea (Fr.) Arv.-Touv. Biological form. H ros. Phenology. Flowering second half of June; fruiting from June to first decade of July. Distribution and Ecology. Chasmophyte endemic to the Madonie Mountains (PA) (N-Sicily) (Fig. 11). NW-facing carbonate rocks and stony Diversity in the genus Hieracium Linnaeus s. str. (Asteraceae) in Sicily 211 Figure 8-12. Blooming individuals in nature of: Fig. 8) Hieracium palliclum subsp. aetnense; Fig. 9) H. racemosum subsp. crinitum; Fig. 10) H. racemosum subsp. pignattianum; Fig. 11) H. schmidtii subsp. madoniense; Fig. 12) H. symphvtifol ium . slopes of Rocca di Mele (Petralia Sottana, PA), in clearings of the beech forest, between 1520 and 1700 m a.s.l. Chromosome number. 2n = 3x = 27 (Di Gristina et al., 2005). Conservation status. “Critically Endangered” (CR): B 1 a+2a; C2a(ii). Taxonomical notes. For a long time confused with H. pallidum but easily distinct by leaf, stem, bract indumentum (short simple crisp hairs) and more lanceolate and dentate leaves (Raimondo & Di Gristina, 2007). Hieracium symphytifolium Froel., in Candolle, 7: 232. 1838. = H. siculum Guss., FI. Sicul. Syn., 2(1): 404. 1844; H. siculum var. minus Guss., FI. Sicul. Syn., 2(1): 404. 1844. H. sect. Italica (Fr.) Arv.-Touv. Biological form. H ros/ H scap. Phenology. Flowering from end of June to July; fruiting in July. Distribution and Ecology. Chasmophyte endemic to the Madonie Mountains (PA) (N-Sicily) (Fig. 12). NW-facing carbonate rocks and stony slopes of the highest reliefs, between 1250 and 1800 m a.s.l. Chromosome number. 2n = 4x = 36 (Brullo et al., 2004; Di Gristina et al., 2006). Conservation status. “Critically Endangered” (CR): Bla+2a; C2a(ii). Taxonomical notes. The status of this plant has only recently been clarified. According to Zahn (1921-1923), the taxon represented an “interme- diate species” between H. lucidum and H. crinitum {Hieracium racemosum subsp. crinitum ). However, morphological and genetic studies showed that it is not a hybrid, but an independent species (Di Gristina et al., 2006). 212 Emilio Di Gristina etalii Key of the Sicilian taxa 1. Achenes dark when mature. Flowering June- July 2 Achenes pale when mature. Flowering end of August-November 3 2. Bracts with rather dense glandular hairs and sparse or no simple hairs H. murorum subsp. atrovirens - Bracts with few to moderately dense glandular hairs and moderately dense to rather dense simple hairs 4 4. Cauline leaves 3-6. Bracts 0.9- 1.3 mm wide H. symphytifolium Cauline leaves 0-3. Bracts 0.4-1 mm wide 5 5. Plants with 1-4 mm long, denticulate soft or crisp simple hairs 6 - Plants with 4-10 mm long, denticulate rigid simple hairs 7 6. Basal leaves unspotted; cauline leaves 1-2(3) H. busambarense - Basal leaves few to intensely dark spotted; cauline leaves 0-1 8 8. Leaves denticulate above, on the margin and along the midrib with crisp simple hairs H. hypochoeroides subsp. montis -scuderii - Leaves dentate to serrate-dentate only on the margin and along the midrib with crisp simple hairs H. schmidtii subsp. madoniense 7. Basal leaves ovate, denticulate, truncate or cuneate at base; cauline leaves 2 H. pallidum - Basal leaves lanceolate, denticulate or serrate- dentate, long attenuate at base; cauline leaves up to 3 H. pallidum subsp. aetnense 3. Leaves coriaceous, glabrous or with few to moderately dense simple hairs 9 - Leaves soft with moderately dense to rather dense simple hairs 10 9. Leaves glabrous H. lucidum - Leaves with few to moderately dense simple hairs on the margin and along the midrib H. lucidum subsp. cophanense 10. Basal leaves with moderately dense stellate hairs on both surfaces. Bracts 0.7-1 mm wide H. racemosum subsp. pignattianum 11. Basal leaves without stellate hairs on both surfaces. Bracts 0.8- 1.3 mm wide H. racemosum subsp. crinitum ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Financial support by the International Founda- tion pro Herbario Mediterraneo and by Universita degli Studi di Palermo (Fondi di Ateneo per la Ricerca) is acknowledged. 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Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 215-218 Monograph Lycopodiidae for the “Flora Critica d’ltalia”: material and methods Angelo Troia 1 *, Francesco Maria Raimondo 1 & Werner Greuter 2 1 D ip artim e n to STEBICEF, Sezione di B otanica ed Ecologia Vegetale. Universita degli Studi di Palermo, via Archirafi 3 8. 90 1 23 P ale rm o . Italy 2 Herbarium M editerraneum Panorrn itanum . Universita degli Studi di Palermo, Orto Botanico, via Lincoln 2, 90133 Paler mo. Italy Corresponding author, e-mail: an g e lo .tro ia @ unipa.it ABSTRACT Procedures are presented that were followed during the preparation of the first pteridophyte family treatments for the “Flora Critica d’ltalia”: Lycopodiaceae.Isoetaceae, Selaginellaceae. The work was mainly based on the study of literature and herbarium specimens. In some cases SEM observation of spores has proved useful. Data collected from herbarium specimens and other verified sources were loaded into a database, from which a distribution map was prepared for each taxon. Several preliminary papers have been published, and foreach family a taxonomic conspectus, with type designations, maps and an identification key, has been prepared. The treatment of these three families for the “Flora Critica d’ltalia” (in Italian) is about to be published or (Isoetaceae) has already been published. KEY WORDS Italy; flora; vascular plants; pteridophytes; lycopodiophytes; herbarium; SEM ; taxonomy. Received 21.12.2014; accepted 12.03.2 0 15; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd Interna tional Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, M ay 16 th -18th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION The need for an up-to-date “Flora Critica d’ltalia” has long been recognized. About 10 years ago the Societa Botanica Italiana (Italian Botanical Society) endorsed the project and prepared a model (Pignotti, 2006). The project, after the estab- lishment of the Fondazione per la Flora Italiana (Foundation for the Italian Flora), has now entered its active phase of implementation: a few months ago the first preliminary results have been publi- shed (Cecchi & Selvi, 2014; Troia & Greuter, 20 14). Procedures are presented that w ere follow ed during the preparation of the first pteridophyte family treatments for the “Flora Critica d’ltalia”: L y c o p o d iac e ae , Isoetaceae, Selaginellaceae. Accor ding to recent literature, these three famil- ies (known as lycopodiophytes or “ ly c o p h y te s ” ) constitute the Lycopodiidae, the first of the five major subclasses of pteridophytes recognized by Christenhusz et al. (2011) and Christenhusz & Chase (2014) (Fig. 1). MATERIAL AND METHODS The treatment is mainly based on the study of literature and herbarium specimens. It encompasses all Lycopodiidae taxa that grow spontaneously in the National territory, either native or naturalized. We studied all Italian and selected foreign Lycopodiidae specimens kept in the Herbarium Centrale Italicum (FI) and Herbarium M editer- raneum Panormitanum (PAL, including PAL-Gr); several specimens, notably original material for 2 1 6 Angelo Troia et alii relevant names, were supplied by the Herbarium of the Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem (B ). Each specimen has been docu- mented photographically. In addition, we examined high-resolution digital images, available online or provided on request, from the following herbaria: APP, BOLO, CAT, GDOR, MFU, MRSN, MSNM , PAD, RO, ROV, SIENA, TO, TR, and K, LINN, P, PH, UPS (abbreviations according to Thiers, 2014), and had the presence of selected specimens verified by colleagues in others (e.g. MI). Specimens con- served in the private collections of Bonafede (Bologna, Italy), Selvi (Florence, Italy), Tondi (Rome, Italy) have also been studied. For mapping the distribution, reports based on photographs have been considered only when species identification was not in doubt; in particu- lar, data from popular websites such as Acta Plantarum (www.actaplantarum.org) have been taken into consideration. However, literature reports not supported by herbarium vouchers have been discarded for mapping purposes; comments have been added for those of special historical or phy togeographical interest. Data (both original data and metadata) were loaded into a specific spreadsheet. Data fields in- cluded not only the scientific name and geograph- ical parameters but also biological aspects, so as to enable future searches on, for example, phenology or altitudinal range. All specimens with sufficient locality data have been georeferenced and plotted on a base map of Italy (Cecchi & Selvi, 2014). Lycopodiidae Ophioglosstdae Equisetidae Marattiidae Polypodl idae Pi n i dae Gnetidae Gink goo idae tycadidae Magnoliidae Figure 1 . The main subclasses of living vascular plants, cladogram based on Schuettpelz & Pryer (2 0 0 8), Pryer et al. (2009), and Grewe et al. (2013); clade names according to Christenhusz et al. (201 1) and Christen husz & Chase (2014) for pterido- phytes. Chase & Reveal (2009) for sperm atophytes. Figures 2-4. Example of SEM images prepared for the “Flora Critica d'ltalia”: IsOCtCS gymVlOCQ,rpCl (G ennari) A . Braun, megaspores and microspores from the type specimen in TO (see Troia & Greuter, 2014). Figure 2: megaspore in proximal view. Figure 3: detail of Fig. 2. Figure 4: microspores. Lycopodiidae for the “Flora Critica d’ltalia”: materials and methods 217 Figure 5. Example of a distribution map prepared for the Flora Critica d’ltalia: Isoetes longissima Bory. Currently, a map is used that shows physiogra- phical rather than administrative territorial units, following the model proposed by Cecchi & Selvi (2014). In a firstphase, only a selection of specimens have been mapped: 1 to 3 preferably recent speci- mens for each territorial units, so as to avoid excess- ive c ro w d in g o f th e d o ts ; territo rial u n its in which th e species in question is present were shaded. For some critical taxa, particularly in the genus Isoetes, scanning electron micrographs were pro- duced to illustrate and document megaspore and microspore features (Figs. 2-4). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS W ith regard to Isoetaceae, a synthetic paper w ith a taxonomic conspectus, type designations and an identification key has been published in the journal Plant Biosystems (Troia & Greuter, 2014), and similar papers for Lycopodiaceae and S e 1 a - ginellaceae, including distribution maps (Fig. 5), are ready for publication. Preliminary results were presented by Troia et al. (2012, 2014b) and Troia & Greuter (2013), as well as a paper with a SEM study of spores of the IsOCtCS longissilflCl group (Troia et al. 2014a). The treatment (in Italian) for the Flora Critica d’ltalia of these three families, following guidelines prepared by the Editorial Committee, has just been published (Isoetaceae: Troia & Greuter, 2015) or is about to be published (Lycopodiaceae and Selagi- nellaceae: Troia & Greuter, in prep.). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank the staff of the consulted herbaria for their assistance, Lorenzo Cecchi (FI) for his valu- able support during the preparation of the distribu- tion maps, and Carmela Di Liberto (D ip artim en to STEBICEF, Universita degli Studi di Palermo) for technical assistance with scanning electron micro- scopy. This study is part of the “Flora Critica d’ Italia” project and as such was funded by the Societa Botanica Italian a onlus, the Fondazione per la Flora Italiana, and the International Foundation Pro Herbario Mediterraneo.Additional support was provided by the Universita degli Studi di Palermo (Fondi di Ateneo per la Ricerca). REFERENCES Cecchi L. & Selvi F., 2014. A synopsis of Boraginaceae subfam . H y d ro p h y 1 1 o id e a e and H e lio tro p io id e a e in Italy. Plant Biosystems, 148: 2-12. Chase M .W. & Reveal J.L., 2009. A phylogenetic classi- fication of the land plants to accompany APG III. Bo- tanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 161: 122-127. Christenhusz M.J.M. & Chase M.W., 2014. Trends and concepts in fern classification. Annals of B otany, 113: 571-594. Christenhusz M.J.M., Zhang X ,-C . & Schneider H ., 2011. A linear sequence of extant families and genera of lycophytes and ferns. Phytotaxa, 19: 7-54. Grewe F., Guo W ., G ubbels E.A., Hansen A.K. & M ower J.P., 2013. Complete plastid genomes from Ophio- glossum californicum, Psilotum nudum , and Equis- etum hyemale reveal an ancestral land plant genome structure and resolve the position of EqilisetClleS among monilophytes. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 13: 8. Pignotti L. (Ed.), 2006. Progetto per una Flora critica dell’ Italia. Societa Botanica Italiana, Firenze, 147 pp. Pryer K .M ., Smith A .R . & Rothfels C ., 2009. Polypo- 2 1 8 Angelo Troia et alii diopsida Cronquist, Takht. & Zimmerm. 1966. Ferns. Version 14 January 2009 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Polypodiopsida/20615/2009. 01. 14 in The Tree ofLife Web Project, http://tolweb.org/ Schuettpelz E. & Pryer K.M ., 2008. Fern phylogeny. In: Ranker T.A. & Flaufler C.H. (Eds.), Biology and Evolution of Ferns and Lycophytes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 395-416. Thiers B ., 2014. Index herbariorum: A global directory of public herbaria and associated staff. New York Botanical Garden’s Virtual Herbarium. h ttp ://s w ee t- gum.nybg.org/ih/ [continuously updated]. Troia A. & Greuter W., 2013. Towards a Critical Flora of Italy. Assessing the Lycopodiophyta. In: Abstracts of the XIV OPTIMA Meeting, Palermo, September 9- 15,2013 (ISBN: 978-88-903108-8-1): 151. Troia A. & Greuter W., 2014. A critical conspectus of Ita- lian IsOeteS (Isoetaceae). Plant Biosystems, 148: 13- 20 . Troia A. & Greuter W ., 2015. Isoetaceae (vers. 1.0). In: Peruzzi L., Cecchi L., Cristofolini G., Domina G., Greuter W., Nardi E . , Raimondo F.M., Selvi F. & Troia A. (Eds.), Flora critica d’ltalia. Fondazione per la Flora Italiana, Firenze. Published online on 25 february 2015 at: http://www.floraditalia.it/pdf/ Isoetaceae.pdf Troia A., Greuter W., Nardi E. & Raimondo F.M ., 2012. Contributo alia Flora Critica d’ltalia: i generi della famiglia Lycopodiaceae. In: Riassunti di relazioni, com unicazioni e poster del 107° Congresso della Societa Botanica Italiana. Benevento, 18-22 Settembre 2012, 142. Troia A., Raimondo F.M . & Campisi P., 2014a. The ISOC- teS longissimCl complex (Isoetaceae) in Italy: obser- vations on the morphology of spores and leaves, and taxonomic implications. Phytotaxa, 174: 149-156. Troia A., Raimondo F.M. & Greuter W., 2014b. On the presence, distribution and conservation status of Lycopodium Icigopus (Lycopodiaceae) in Italy. In: 109° Congresso della Societa Botanica Italiana, In- ternational Plant Science Conference, Firenze, 2-5 September 2014, Proceedings: 64. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 219-244 Monograph Hotspot of new megafauna found in the Central Amazon (Brazil): the lower RioAripuana Basin Marc G.M.van Roosmalen ‘MVRS Marc van Roosmalen Stichting, Leiden, The Nether lands; e-mail: marc.mvrs@gmail.com ABSTRACT Here I announce the discovery of a whole new ecosystem in the central-southern part of the Brazilian Amazon: the RioAripuana Basin. Overall, it seems to have created mo re ecological niches than any other river basin in the Amazon, in particular so to aquatic and non-volant terrestrial mammals. This is plausibly explained for by the unique geo-morphological history of the region. During the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene the entire area to the southeast of the Rio Madeira contained one huge clear-water system that was drained toward the south into the Atlantic Ocean. In the course of several million years a biome quite different from the rest of Amazonia could evolve in this drainage system. Living relicts from ancient times that happened to survive in isolation here, are: a dwarf manatee here described as TrichechllS pygmueUS n. sp., a dolphin locally called “boto roxo” that is suspected to be closer related to marine Rio Plata dolphins Pontoporici blciiiivillei (Gervais et d'Orbigny, 1 844) than to Amazonian dolphins of the genus Illici (d'Orbigny, 1834), a black dwarf tapir ( TcipivilS pygmaeus Van Roosmalen, 2013, with T. k.Clb OinCllli C ozzuol et al., 2013 as junior name), a dwarf marmoset Ccillibcllci hWTlilis Van Roosmalen et Van Roosmalen, 2003, a new mono- specific genus of C allitrich id ae that stands at the base of the phylogenetic tree of all extant m arm o sets (i.e ., Cebuellci Gray, 1866, Mico Lesson, 1840, and Cullithrix Erxleben, 1777), a giant striped paca here described as AgOllti silvClgCLVCicie n. sp., and an arboreal giant anteater spotted in the wild but remains to be collected and described (MymieCOphagCl n. sp.). A number of other, more advanced mammalian species discovered in the Rio Aripuana Basin, among which a third specie s of brocket here d escribed as MCLZCIJTICI tieJlllOVeni n. sp., evolved after a dramatic vicariance took place about 1-1.8 MYA (million years ago), the break-through of the continental watershed by the proto-Madeira River during one of the glacial epochs of the Middle Pleistocene. It marked the birth of the modern fast- fl owing Rio Madeira, in terms of total discharge the biggest tributary of the Amazon proper and the second strongest river barrier in the entire Amazon Basin. Furthermore, current threats to the environment in this sparsely inhabited and poorly explored river basin will be addressed. We intend to have this ‘lo st w orld ’ preserv ed as a UNESCO N atural W orld H eritage Reserve through the div ulgation of new, hitherto not yet identified mammals that it appears to harbor. KEY WORDS Brazilian Amazon; nova species; Rio Aripuana Basin. Received 15.06.2014; accepted 12.12.2014; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd Internatio nal C ongre ss “S p ec iatio n and Taxonomy”, May 1 6 th - 1 8 th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION any other basin in the Amazon, in particular to aquatic and terrestrial mammals. In terms of spe- cies evolution and p h y lo g e o g r ap h y the Rio Aripuana Basin distinguishes itself from Amazo- Overall, the Rio Aripuana Basin (Fig. 1) seems to have created more ecological niches than 220 Marc G.M. van Roosmalen nia west of the Rio Madeira and north of the Rio Amazonas by harboring: - Five sympatric species of peccaries (Tayas- s u id ae : TayClSSU G. Fisher, 1814; PeCClri L inn aeu s , 1 75 8 ), instead of two species elsewhere in the Amazon; - Three sympatric species of brocket deer (C ervidae: MflZCUflCl Rafinesque, 18 17), including a new species we here describe as M. tieilhoveilin. sp., instead of two species elsewhere in the Amazon; - Two sympatric species of coati (Procyonidae: NdSUCl Storr, 1 780), including a newly identified red-coated pair-living coati we here resurrect as N. solitaria Schinz (ex Wied, MS), 1821, as Spix & Martius (1 823-1 83 1 ) refer to it in their account “Reise in Brasilien in den Jahren 1 8 1 7-1 820”, instead of only one gregarious species elsewhere in the A m azon ; - Two sympatric species of giant anteater (E den tata: MyVJYieCOphcigCL Linnaeus, 1758),includ- ing a new species being tree-dwelling and climbing by its hind feet, instead of only one ground- dwelling species elsewhere in the Amazon; - Two sympatric species of lowland tapir (Ta- piridae: TapiruS Briinnich, 1 772), including a new species in 2013 described by me as T. pygtnaeUS (w ith T. kab OVncmi Cozzuol et al., 2013 as a junior synonym), instead of only one species elsewhere in lowland Amazonia; - Two sympatric species of jaguar (Felidae: PcM- thera. Oken, 1 8 1 6 ) , including a new larger-sized species reported to hunt in pairs, its coat being all- black but a white throat, instead of only one species elsewhere in the Amazon; - Two sympatric species of paca (Rodentia: AgOUti Lacepede, 1 799), including a new species here described as A. silVQgClTcicie n. sp., being larger-sized, its coat orange-brown with white stripes instead of dots, instead of only one species elsewhere in the Amazon; - Two sympatric species of porcupine (Rodentia- Erethizontidae: Coendu L acepede, 1 799), includ- ing a new species described as C. ( SphiggUTUS ) roosmalenorum Voss et Da Silva, 2001 belonging to the vestltUS gro up of sm all-bodied dwarf porcu- pines form erly known only from the Andean Moun- tains in Colombia, instead of only one species elsewhere in lowland Amazonia; - Two sympatric species of woolly monkey (Primates: LagOtHvix FI um b oldt, 1 8 1 2 ), including L. nigra n. sp. that is all-black, small, and ranging in atypical small social groups (Van Roosmalen, 2013a; 2014; 2015; Van Roosmalen & Van Roos- malen, 2014), instead of only one species elsewhere in lowland Amazonia; - Two sympatric species of Amazonian mar- moset (Primates, C allitrichidae), including a new species, first described as Callithrix huinilis Van Roosmalen, Van Roosmalen, Mittermeier et De Fonseca, 1998, and later as a new genus, Callibella Van Roosmalen et Van Roosmalen, 2003, which is much smaller, does not show any territorial beha- vior, and occurs in sympatry with MicO WianicOVen- SIS Van Roosmalen, Van Roosmalen, Mittermeier et Rylands, 2000, instead of only one species elsewhere in the Amazon east of the Rio Madeira; - Two sympatric species of a large-bodied river dolphin (D elphinidae ), including a new species locally called “boto roxo” that we suspect to belong to the m arine genus P ontopovia G ray, 1 8 7 0 , it being smaller, having an overall bluish-grey colored skin, lacking a distinct melon (and therefore maybe foraging by eye-sight and not by echo location), living in pairs with a single offspring, and restricted to the clear-water habitat of the lower Rio A rip u ana, instead of only one species elsewhere in the Amazon Basin; - Two sympatric species of freshwater manatee, including a new species described in this work as TrichechuS pygniaeus n. sp., it being less than half the size and one-fifth of the body weight of com- mon Amazonian manatees T. inunguis (N atterer, 1 8 8 3 ), and its skin deep black instead of grey, instead of only one species elsewhere in lowland Amazonia downstream of rapids and waterfalls; - A number of newly identified large-fruited, large-seeded, sy nzoochorically dispersed trees and lianas that are dem ographically confined to the terra firm e forests east of the Rio Madeira (Van Roos- malen, 2013b). These woody plants seem to have co-evolved with scatter hoarding rodents belonging to the genera DdSypWCta Illiger, 18 11 (agoutis) and Myoprocta Thomas, 1903 (ac ouch is), among which we identified some possibly new species; - Primate diversity, here defined as the total number of taxa that occur in sympatry within a 10x10 km quadrant of land overlying both banks of a river at certain latitudes, is the highest for the Rio Madeira at the longitude of the mouth of the Rio Aripuana, reaching at least 25 (!) valid species. That Hotspot of new megafauna found in the Central Amazon (Brazil): the lower Rio Aripuana Basin 221 Figure 1. Study area. Central Amazon (Brazil): the Rio Aripuana Basin (shaded area). exceeds with at least two species the hitherto highest primate diversity (in total 23 valid species) found west of the Madeira River, along the Rio Purus at its confluence with the Rio Tapaua (Van Roosmalen, 2013a; 2015; Van Roosmalen & Van Roosmalen, 2014). - The Rio Aripuana is a clear-water river drain- ing the area north of the Chapada dos Parecis, a mountain range that is part of the crystalline Pre-Cambrian Brazilian Shield. Together with the clear- water Rios Tap ajo s - Ju r u en a , Teles-Pires, and Xingu, the Rio Aripuana seems to harbor relicts of a highly species-rich endemic Miocene freshwater mollusk (shellfish or bivalve) fauna with extant shells, oysters and mussels only to be found east of the Madeira River (Hoorn & W esselingh , 20 10). RESULTS New mammalian species descriptions from the Rio Aripuana Basin, Brazilian Amazon 1. New species of living brocket deer (Mam- malia Cervidae) from the Rio Aripuana Basin Up to recently, only two members of the Neo- tropical Odocoileinae (brocket deer), a subfamily of the Cervidae (deer), from lowland Amazonia were known to science, belonging to the extant genus Mazama (Wilson & Reeder, 1 993): the red brocket M. americana (Erxleben, 1777), and the grey brocket M. nemorivClgCl (F. Cuvier, 1817). The latter has being recently (Rossi, 2000) distinguished from M. gouazoupira (G. Fischer, 18 14), which species is said to range south of Amazonia on the open savannas and shrub savannas (cerrado) of Central Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, N Argentina and Uruguay. Although the evolutionary history of brocket deer dates back almost 20 million years ago (M YA), Duarte etal. (2008) suggest that in the Fate Pliocene, approximately 2.5-3 MYA, the uplift of the Panamanian land bridge allowed deer to spread south, as participants in the “great American inter- change” between N orth and S outh A m erica. A ccord- ing to Duarte et al. (2008), these were the first deer to enter the S o u th - A m eric an continent, and their surprising success in South America may be attrib- uted to the absence of other ruminants (Webb, 2000). Class Mammalia OrderArtiodactyla or Cetartiodactyla (if w hales are to be included) Family Cervidae Goldfuss, 1820 Subfamily Odocoileinae Pocock, 1923 Genus Mazamci Rafinesque, 1817 Mazama tienhoveni V an Roosmalen et Van Hooft Examined material. Two skins in possession of hunters from the village of Tucunare along the lower Rio Aripuana were examined. Moreover, a complete skull and mandible still in the flesh from an adult female specimen, and one spike from an adult male specimen were obtained from them in the course of the year 2006. The settlement of Tucunare is situated along the Parana do Santa Maria, a shortcut from the community of Santa Maria to that of Tucunare, along the left bank of the middle Rio Aripuana, State of Amazonas, Brazil (05°45'S, 60°15'W). Holotypus: Specimen MR204, complete head with partly damaged mandible (Fig. 3), adult female, on May 1 2, 2006 killed for food by a local hunter along the left bank of the Rio Aripuana near the settlement of Tucunare, skull, spike (Fig. 4) and skin (Fig. 5). The type specimen MR204 is deposited as INPA4273, Mammal Collection of the National Institute for Amazon Research, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. 222 Marc G.M. van Roosmalen Figures 2-9 . MUZCLTHCL tieflhovevii n . sp . Figure 2 . M. tieflhoveTli n. sp. drawing reconstructed from plate depicting M. TieTTlOVi- VClgCl (Eisenberg, 1989). Fig. 3. Skinned head of a holotype female fair brocket deer M. tiCTlhoVCTli n . sp. Fig. 4. Two spikes of M. nemorivaga and one (the smallest) of M. tienhoveni n. sp. Fig. 5. Skin of M. tienhoveni n. sp. from Tucunare village, Rio Aripuana. Figs. 6-8. skull and mandible of gray brocket deer M. neniorivOgCL (MPEG 1969). Fig. 9. Distribution map for M. tienhoveni n. sp. Description of holotypus. Measurements. Two skins obtained from hunters along the lower Rio Aripuana were measured. Body weight not taken but according to local hunters ranges from 20- 25 kg. Skull length 185 mm, mandible length 145 mm. Diastema length in skull 53 mm. Condylobasal length 167 mm. Palatal length 114 mm. Length of nasals 55 mm. Interorbital constriction 41 mm. Zy- gomatic breadth (= breadth across zygomatic ar- ches) 80 mm. Breadth ofbraincase 55 mm. Length of upper tooth-row 53 mm. Length oflower tooth- row 58 mm. Breadth of M 2 12 mm, breadth of M2 8 mm. Dental formula: I 0/3, C ( 1 )/ 1 , P3/3, M 3/3. Length of spikes (including the coronet) 55 mm. Variability. No paratypes have been collected thus far. Etymology. We would like to name the species for Dutch lawyer and naturalist Pieter Gerbrand van Tienhoven (1875-1953), co-founder of a main- stream conservation organisation in the Netherlands (N atu u rm o n u m en te n ) and one of the founding fathers of the International Union for the Conser- vation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN): Van Tienhoven's fair brocket deer, M. tienhoveni n . sp . Hotspot of new megafauna found in the Central Amazon (Brazil): the lower Rio Aripuana Basin 223 Van Tienhoven's fair brocket deer M. tiCYlhoVCVli n. sp. is locally known as “veado branco”, which means “white brocket deer”. This way locals distin- guish it from M. americana commonly known as “veado vermelho” or “veado capoeira”, which means “red brocket” or “secondary-growth brocket”, referring to its overall orange-red color and preference for edge habitats and forest clear- ings, and from M. nemorivaga locally known as “veado roxo”, which means “purplish-grey brocket”. Distribution. The geographical distribution of Van Tienhoven's fair brocket is thought to be restricted to the lower and middle part of the Rio Aripuana Basin, but it might well be distributed across the entire interfluvium delineated by the Rio Madeira in the west, the Rio Tapajos-Juruena in the east, the Rio Amazonas in the north and the Rio Guapore in the south. Since it seems to be confined to terra firme rainforest habitat, we assume that its real distribution is much smaller and does not extend into the northern part of the Rios M adeira/Tap ajo s interfluvium, where many open savannas and extensive floodplains are found. We have observed the species in the wild only along both banks of the Rio Aripuana. Ecology. Van Tienhoven's fair brocket, M. tien- hoveni n. sp., seems to be restricted to dense terra firme (upland) rain forest, where it lives solitary or in pairs. It occupies rather small territories and occurs in the Rio Aripuana Basin in sympatry with the locally much rarer grey brocket .M. nemorivaga, and the greater red brocket M. americana. The lat- ter, however, occurs more frequently in disturbed areas with secondary growth and edge habitats, and in open areas such as white-sand savannas, which are common in the region. Nothing is known about Van Tienhoven’s fair brocket, its ecology, and habits in the wild. The author has seen it only a few times in the wild during the dry season, while it was visit- ing the BaCtris maraja (palm) dominated margins of muddy ponds, mud pools and saltlicks. These can be found locally in the middle of the rain forest at sometimes long distances from any substantial water supply, such as rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. Phylogeny. DNA was extracted from a skin sample from each of the two brocket species, M. tienhovenin. sp. and M. nemorivaga, both collected from the forests along the left bank of the Rio Aripuana. Partial mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA sequences of 233 bp (sites 1 33-365) and 295 bp (sites 108-402) in length were obtained for respect- ively Mazama tienhovenin. sp. and M. nemorivaga with the conserved primers L 1484 1 and H15149 (Kocher et al., 1989). DNA extractions, PCR reac- tions, and DNA sequencing were performed accord- ing to standard laboratory protocols. The sequences are deposited in Genbank under the accession numbers: GQ 268320 {M. tienhoveni n. sp.) and GQ268321 (M. nemorivaga) . Unfort unate ly, we did not have a skin sample from a specimen of the third sympatric brocket M. americana. However, differ- ent cytochrome b DNA sequences from this species and all other currently known Amazonian deer species could be obtained from Genbank (Genbank accession numbers given in Fig. 10). Most of these sequences have been used in a recent phylogenetic study on the South American deer (Duarte et al., 2008). We generated a m inim um -evolution (ME) distance tree by adding our two sequences to those used in Duarte et al., 2008. Furthermore, we in- cluded Genbank sequences not used in that study, belonging to various S outh-A m erican deer species, and excluded those with a large number of missing data in the 1 33-365 bp region of cytochrome b. The ME- tree was constructed with MEGA 4 (Tamura et al., 2007). We used the substitution model K2P (Kimura, 1 980) with a constant rate applied and w ith Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1758)being out- group, as has also been done in Duarte et al., 2008. The tree is based on the 1 33-365 bp region of cyto- chrome b with unresolved nucleotides deleted by pairwise deletion. Divergence times were estimated assuming separation between BlastOCemS/ Pudli and Mazama/ Odocoileus 5 MYA (Duarte et al., 2008). Mazama tienhoveni n. sp. and Genbank se- quence AY 886753, not being used in Duarte et al. (2008) although being from a brocket classified as M. gOliazOUpira, formed a distinct clade that diver- ged from the other South American deer species (average sequence divergence: 8.3%) 5 MYA (Fig. 10). This w o u Id im p ly th at M. tienhoveni n . sp . di- verged already before the uplift of the Panamanian land bridge and invaded South America during the “great A m erican interchange” between both contin- ents. A distinct clade not only supports the separate species status of M. tienhovenin. sp., it also indic- ates that Genbank sequence AY 8 86753 was wrongly identified as M. gOliazOUpira. The latter 224 Marc G.M. van Roosmalen observation is not unlikely, as low levels of mor- phological differentiation in the genus MdZCltflCl have caused numerous errors in species identifica- tion in the past (Duarte et al., 2008). Genbank sequence AY 886753 should either be attributed to M. tienhovenin. sp. or to a separate species in its own right, which is very well possible considering the fact that it diverged 2-3 M YA from the M. tien- hoveni n. sp. sequence. This divergence seems to have occurred, more or less coinciding with the uplift of the Panamanian land bridge. Remarks. Mazama tienhoveni n. sp. differs from the two other known Amazonian species, the ion GQ ms IE IPV C H r 33 90 1Q3 SB ^1 Hr 93 ID ffl 1 51 £ 92 l 96 r BI L 91 S3 “C El □E 99 Mazama gouazoupira DQ7S9181 Mazama gouazoupira DQ789203 Mazama gouazoupira DQ789189 Manama gouazoupira DQ789229 Mazama gouazoupira DQ789188 Mazama gouazoupira DQ789183 Mazama gouazoupira DO7890Q2 Mazama gouazoupira DQ789179 Mazama gouazoupira DQ786GQ0 Mazama gouazoupira DQ789186 Mazama gouazoupira DQ789194 Blastoceros dichotomic AY326234 Blastoceros dichotomus DQ789176 Blastoceros dichotomus DQ789175 Hippocamelus beulcus DQ739173 Hippocamelus be ulcus DG789177 Mazama gouazoupira DQ379303 Mazama nemorrvaga DG789226 Mazama nemorivaga 0Q789205 # Mizamanemorwagafrioaripuana) Mazama nemorivaga DQ789213 Mazama nemorivaga D Q789206 Pudu pud a DG3793Q9 Pudu pud a L.43435 Hippocamelus antisense DQ379307 Qzotoceros bezoartious L43434 Ozotocercs bezoartious DQ789198 □zotoceros bezoartious DQ789199 Ozotoceros bezoartious D Q7S9193 Ozcdoceros bezoartious DQ789196 Odocoileus hemionus FJ188800 Odocoileus hemionus FJ 188781 Odocoileus hemionus FJ 188768 Odocoileus hemionus FJ 188874 Odocoileus hemionus FJ188805 Odocoileus hemionus FJ188764 Mazama bororo DQ789231 Mazama nana DQ 73C214 Mazama nana DQ789227 Mazama nana DQ789210 Mazama sp. AJ 1X0027 Mazama sp, DQ789180 Mazama americana DG789217 Mazama americana DQ780218 Mazama americana DQ789209 Mazama americana DQ 789211 Mazama americana DQ 789219 Mazama americana DQ7BS220 Mazama americana DQ 789223 MEama americana DQ789221 Mazama americana DQ789230 Mazama americana DQ789215 Mazama americana DQ 78022*4 Mazama americana DQ 78 9208 Mazama gouazoupira AY886753 0 Mazama tienhoveni Rangifer tarandus NC007703 Rangifer tarandus AJ0CCO2 9 Rangifer tarandus AYD90 106 Rangifer tarandus AY090107 Rangifer tarandus L49403 Rangifer tarandus AF 4941 96 Rangifer tarandus AF 4941 95 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 005 J 005 0O4 ' 003 002 001 OQO Fig are 1 0 . L inearized minimum-evolution tree showing phylogenetic relationships among South American deer derived fro m a 2 3 3 bp fragm entofthem ito chondrial cy to chrome b. The scale on top correspo nd s to the time scale in millions of years while the scale below corresponds to the observed mean sequence divergence using the substitution model K2P. Bootstrap values (1000 re plica tes, > 50%) are denoted above nodes. Numbers behind taxon names c orresp o nd to Genbank accession numbers. Hotspot of new megafauna found in the Central Amazon (Brazil): the lower Rio Aripuana Basin 225 Greater Red Brocket M. americana and the Gray Brocket M. nemorivaga, in being intermediary in size, but with 55 mm total length and coronet dia- meter 24x30 mm having the shortest but most ro- bust spikes (mean spike length 74 mm and coronet diameter 21x22 mm in M. nemorivaga) . M ost of the body is overall light brown colored, grading toward almost white on the sides and ventrally, whereas the dorsal parts of M. Cline ricCMCl are of a (deep) reddish brown color, grading ventrally into a more rusty color, and those of M. nemorivaga are dull or pale yellowish or grayish brown to chestnut brown, grad- ing ventrally into yellowish or whitish (Husson, 1978). The males of M. tienhoveni n. sp. do not have the distinct crest of hairs on the forehead as M. nemorivaga has, neither do the males of Mazama americana. Head-body length is not known yet, but M. tieilhoveTli n. sp. is said to be in- term e diary in size between M. nemorivClgCl, being 760-1015 mm (N = 6) (Rossi, 2000), with shoulder height 480 mm (Duarte, 1 99 6), and M. americana being 1120-1135 mm. The short tail is 75 mm long, dorsally has the same color of the back but shows a conspicuous white tuft at the end, being predomin- antly white below, whereas the tail in M. americana is 1 60-200 mm long, including the tuft, and 60-106 mm in M. nemorivaga. Furthermore, hind foot length (w ith hoof) in M. americana is 313-318 mm and ear length is 94-100 mm, and 82-93 mm in M. nemorivaga (Husson, 1 978; Rossi, 2000). Weight of adult specimens is reported less than 15 kg in M. nemorivaga, 25-40 kg in M. americana, and about 20-25 kg in M. tienllOVeni n . sp., according to local hunters. M. tienhoveni n . sp. can be distinguished from other brocket deer by its intermediary-sized head and various other intermediary skull charac- ters (Table 1 ). O verall, the cranium of M. tienhoveni seems more related to that of M. nemorivaga than that of M. americana, but it differs clearly from Ma- Zama nemorivaga in the following mean cranial measurements: greatest skull length 185 versus 174 mm; palatal length 114 vs. 105 mm; length of nasals 55 vs. 50 mm; interorbital constriction 41 vs. 39 mm; zygomatic breadth 80 vs. 73 mm; braincase breadth 55 vs. 53 mm; alveolar breadth of the upper second molar 12 vs. 11.3 mm; alveolar breadth of the lower second molar 8 vs. 7.4 mm; and length of mandible 145 vs. 134 mm. The divergence time between M. tienhoveni n. sp. and the two other brocket deer, derived from partial cytochrome b DNA sequences, is estimated Skull Greatest orcondylobusa! length (-length anterior lip of I 1 to rear ofcondyles) W, iimt’rirtiiiii (n-l 1) 221 M, nemorivaga 2 m deep), being consumed in situ or, in the case of floating plants, taken below the surface and manipulated into the mouth by the flippers, preferentially if depth allows in a vertical position. While foraging in shallow waters, dwarf manatees when detecting people walking or canoeing along the riverbank immedi- ately seek seclusion in the deep pools found in river bends. There, they stay underwater for three minutes at the most. When on ease, they slowly come to the surface and take a breath every 30-55 seconds. TrichechuS inunguis, when persecuted, can stay underwater up to 20 minutes without breathing. According to the locals and confirmed by our own observations, dwarf manatees tend to associate with schools of “jaraqui” fish (Semaprochilodus insignis - Prochilodontidae) while browsing on Eleocharis minima. This polyspecific association helps to protect them against defensive shocks from electric eels, and attacks of potential predators such as over 8 m long anacondas and spotted jaguars (Fig. 22). Dwarf manatees are considered critically en- dangered due to their most restricted geographical and ecological range, small population size (we estimate it to be less than 100 individuals), value as game, and their extremely vulnerable and delicate preferred habitat, clear-water streams and wetlands. The skull of the type specimen is recovered from game occasionally killed with bow and arrow and eaten by the locals. Habitat favorable to dwarf manatees occurs, aside of the Rio Arauazinho, only in the basins of two other clear-water tributaries of the lower Rio Aripuana - Rio Aracu and Rio Juma. Trichechus pygmaeus n. sp., though, is not reported to exist there. The Rio Aracu Basin has been completely destroyed after a colonization scheme was implanted by the local government in the late 1970s. The Rio Juma Basin has been signi- ficantly affected after a goldmine was opened in 2006. Over 10,000 people flocked into the area polluting the Juma and Aripuana Basins using high- pressure hose-pipes and large amounts of mercury. Illegal mining of gravel and gold, timber extraction, commercial hunting and fishing in the Rio Aripuana Basin pose serious threats to the survival of both Amazonian manatee species. The discovery of T. pygmaeUS adds to the uniqueness of the lower Aripuana Basin and shows once more that it is a poorly explored hotspot of biodiversity and endemism. My biodiversity surveys conducted after the year 2000 indicate that the region harbors at least seven primates new to science, four of which being described, including the new genus Callibella never reported orcollected before (Van Roosmalen et al., 1998; Van Roosmalen et al.,2000; Van Roos- malen et al., 2002; Van Roosmalen & Van Roos- malen, 2003; 2014; Van Roosmalen, 2013b; 2015). Disturbingly, there is not a single officially protec- ted area in the entire basin. Conclusion. Trichechus pygmaeus n . s p . , th e dwarf manatee, represents a second taxon of living fresh-water manatees and the smallest (130 cm in length) of all extant sirenians. The new species differs from the other known western Atlantic manatees, T. inunguis and T. manatUS, in being two to three times smaller, with a more streamlined, less bloated appearance, a deep black instead of dark greyish skin, a large symmetrical, circular to tear- shaped white patch on the abdomen in at least the males (and reported equally in the females), a shorter head and shorter flippers, the tips of which do not reach the mouth (Fig. 19). In September 2002, the author collected a complete skull of a recently killed adult male. Two years later, he could film, photograph, examine, and study for the first time an adult male dwarfmanatee while keeping it alive for over four months in its natural habitat. It then escaped and returned to its natural environment. Figure 23 shows the fenced- off river bend along the lower course of the Rio Arauazinho in which we kept, fed and observed for Hotspot of new megafauna found in the Central Amazon (Brazil): the lower RioAripuana Basin 239 over four months a solitary adult male dwarf manatee that was captured by a local from Araua- zinho while feeding on Eleocharis minima at ab o u t seven km from the confluence with the Aripuana River. Floating vegetation was systematically re- fused. Food plants we brought in from the nearby river consequently had to be fixed onto the sandy bottom of his pan in order to be recognized as food, browsed and eaten in a horizontal feeding posture. Nine years later, Van Roosmalen and Van der Vlist conducted an expedition by canoe and found the last existing population of dwarf manatees in the wetlands situated along the northern branch of the upper Rio Arauazinho near the watershed with the Rios Urua and Mariepaua (Figs. 17, 22). Dwarf manatees were found to be fully adapted to foraging in fast-flowing shallow clear-water streams. Standing on their flippers they browse in a horizontal position on aquatic grasses and other non -floating plants that grow on or near the bottom. In contrast, the three times bigger common fresh- water manatee T. iviUTlguis is restricted to calm Figure 23. The fenced-off river bend along the lower course of the Rio Arauazinho. Here we kept, fed, filmed and observed for over four months a solitary adult male dwarf manatee that was cap tu red at seven km fro m the mouth of the Rio Arauazinho by a local from Arauazinho village. 240 Marc G.M. van Roosmalen waters of rivers and lakes of the black- and white- water types offering limited visibility. It feeds on floating aquatic plants and sub- mersed foliage of floodplain (igapo and varzea) plant species. Mitochondrial control region DNA sequences revealed a haplotype identical to T. lYlUYlglllS. We believe that this resulted from some gene flow that must have taken place in the past, as the two taxa are parapatric and only allopatric in ecological respect. We consider the dwarf manatee at the verge of extinction, for only the headwaters of the northernmost branch of Rio Arauazinho, a 120 km long left-bank clear-water tributary of the Rio Aripuana, are thought to harbor a viable relict pop u latio n . DISCUSSION In phy to-sociological respect, the many scrub and open savannas on white-sand alluvial soils in the entire Rio Aripuana Basin are unique and found nowhere else in the Amazon. Together with the adjacent low savanna forests their branching pattern seen on satellite images does indicate that the entire basin preceding the Late Pleistocene was drained southward - instead of northward like the Rio Aripuana and its tributaries nowadays drain the area into the Madeira River, and through the Rio M adeira into the Amazonas and eventually into the Atlantic Ocean. The alluvial sand deposits of former Pliocene and Early Pleistocene creeks and rivers show a branching pattern in their headwaters, mean in g toward their northernmost end. Toward the southernmost end of the basin, where the Rio Aripuana later in the Pleistocene originated, is situ- ated nowadays the Tenharim Savanna, a large con- tinuous savanna area. It is located east of the city of Porto Velho, close to the Rio Jl-Parana, a river that together with the Rio Guapore drains the western part of the Brazilian Shield into the Rio Madeira. The huge Tenharim Savanna has been interpreted by geo-morphologists as the result of sedimentation in a Quaternary long-lived clear- water inner lake. If we look at the geo-morpholo- gical history of the Rio Aripuana Basin, it is assumed that during part of the Miocene a large freshwater inland lake existed, called the Beni Lake. This lake stretched westward across the Bolivian Amazon. The brackish-w ater marine molasses-lakes from the Oligocene might have turned in the Miocene into the fresh-watermolasses- lakes, and in the Pliocene into the sub-andine inner or inland lakes. During the Pliocene and Pleistocene these lakes filled with rainwater flowing down from the eastern foothills of the (by then) higher Andes Mountains (Hoorn & Wesselingh, 2010). In the Pleistocene era, three main drainage systems or basins were formed in form er A m azonia: the white- water basin influenced by the eroding volcanic Andes in the western part of Am azonia, drained by the proto-Amazon River flowing toward the At- lantic Ocean; the clear-water basin draining the so u th -east A m azonian crystalline Brazilian Shield with the watershed running across the Chapada dos Parecis toward the south through the proto-Beni, proto-M am ore, and proto-G uapore Rivers; thirdly, the black-water basin draining the northern Amazo- nian alluvial white-sand area through the proto-Rio Negro. During the Late Pleistocene oceanic levels repeatedly have dropped on a global scale and the sub-andine inner lakes were quickly emptied by the much stronger eroding power of the proto-Amazon rushing toward the Atlantic Ocean - its surface lying 100-120 m lower during the subsequent ice ages of the Pleistocene. During the glacial periods of the Late Pleisto- cene (1-2 M YA) the ancient continental watershed running across the Chapada dos Parecis has been broken through by the proto -M adeira River, which in turn was connected with the mighty Amazon River. The M adeira /Amazonas drainage system, as a way of speaking, then ‘sucked’ its way through the watershed powered by huge water volumes on their way to the up to 120 m lower lying water table of the Atlantic Ocean. The vortex holes in what a geologist would call an “unripe riverbed” - in the 400 km long stretch of the upper M adeira River and a shorter stretch in the middle Rio Aripuana, as well as in the Rio Roosevelt - tell the tale about a former battle over one watershed between two drainage systems, each draining one side of it. The proto- Madeira and Amazonas Rivers thus conquered the clear-water catchment area of the Brazilian Shield. From then on, they made a connection with what was left of the former Pantanal/C haco Lake through the Mamore, Beni, and Abuna Rivers. Thereafter, these white-water rivers began to leak the sub- Hotspot of new megafauna found in the Central Amazon (Brazil): the lower Rio Aripuana Basin 241 andine Bolivian drainage system, this time to the north instead of to the east, connected as they now were with the Madeira and Amazon Rivers. The P an tan al/C h ac o Lake was quickly emptied out to the east through the Madeira flowing into the Amazon and then into the Atlantic Ocean. In the northern part of the former Pantanal/C haco Lake one or more clear- water lakes that had formed there since the Pliocene, were now also emptied out by the combined Rios Madeira/Amazonas drainage sy stem . One of these large clear- water lakes was situated exactly where nowadays the Tenharim Savanna is located, just north of the pre-andine watershed running across the Chapada dos Parecis. This Tenharim Lake was so far fed by rivers running in a north-south direction within what is nowadays the larger Rios M adeira/A m azonas/Tapajos-Juruena in te rflu v i- u m (the Tenharim Lake was drained southward toward the Pantanal through the proto- Guapore River). After the conquest of the water- shed by the combined Madeira/Amazonas drainage system, rivers such as the Ji-Parana, Roosevelt, Guariba, and Aripuana began to flow north- and westward, this way draining the entire Aripuana Basin directly into the Rio Madeira. Clear evidence that rivers like the Aripuana and Roosevelt origin- ated in a more recent geological era (the Late Plei- stocene) is the occurrence of so-called “ S tru d ello ch e rn ” in the crystalline bedrock of the middle and upper courses of these rivers. In the Rio Aripuana, south of Prainha, are nowadays found the unsurpassable Periquito Falls, among other extensive stretches of rapids and waterfalls. Moreover, the very deep deposits of gravel in the form of small brown rounded-off, polished pebbles that are laid down in calmer waters downstream of the rapids, assign to the afore-mentioned geological (vicariance) event of a Pleistocene watershed break-through. Once the complex history of S o u th - A m eric a ’s continental landscape and river systems, and, in particular, the relatively recent (Pliocene through Pleistocene) geo-morphological model of the Aripuana River’s drainage system is clearly under- stood, about all demographic and evolutionary odds of this river basin, that were hitherto considered ‘hit and miss’ distributions, may now be plausibly explained for. It seems that during a large part of the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene eras the entire pre-Aripuana river drainage system with its pre- dominantly clear-water habitats was effectively blocked off from Amazonia west and north of the proto-Madeira River, for it was drained by rivers flowing southward toward the eastern part of the late-Miocene sub-andine Pantanal/C haco Lake, and from there into the Atlantic Ocean. The continental watershed built from pre-Cambrian crystalline rock, together with the (those days) extensive lacus- trine habitats, effectively isolated this peripheral drainage system from sub-andine w hite-w ater river systems, that were drained by the p ro to -M ad e ira and Amazon Rivers. Over millions of years oppor- tunities for allopatric divergence were provided, for no gene flow could take place between non-volant terra firm e and aquatic fauna of the clear-water drainage system and the rest of Amazonia, which was drained to the far northeast into the Atlantic Ocean. A number of ground- as well as tree- dwelling vertebrates, but also aquatic (mostly mam- malian and mollusk) fauna, could therefore evolve in seclusion. The first vicariance must have taken place already in the E arly -Plioc en e , about 5 MYA, when ancestral proto/archetypical forms of a 1 1 - Amazonian generic groups (i.e., the marmosets, spider-, woolly-, capuchin-, saki-, tit i- , night- and howling monkeys, tapirs, anteaters, rodents like porcupines, pacas, agoutis, and acouchis, manatees, and ‘botos’) have diverged from closely related species found in the rest of the Amazon - to the west and north of the proto-Madeira and Amazon Rivers. A second, more dramatic vicariance took place during one or more of the glacial epochs of the Middle Pleistocene, about 1-1.8 MYA, the break- through of the continental watershed by the proto- Madeira, being in turn powered by the modern Rio Amazonas drainage system in times that ocean levels had dropped over 120 m. So far, this water- shed had run across the Serra dos Parecis in the Brazilian State of Rondonia. This way, the modern M adeira River originated and, at the same time, the Rios Aripuana, Ji-Parana, Tapajos-Juruena, and, perhaps, also the Rios Xingu and Araguaia, although the headwaters of the latter two rivers are found in the ‘cerrado’ (white-sand savannas) of Mato Grosso. These rivers also cleared themselves a way through the watershed of the former clear- water north-south directed drainage system and 242 Marc G.M. van Roosmalen began to empty their waters into the modern Madeira and Amazonas Rivers. From then on, the Rio Madeira became the rather straight and fast- flowing, second largest river barrier in the entire Amazon Basin, after the Amazon proper. Ever since, no gene flow of terrestrial mega- fauna could take place to and from the western and northern Amazon. The RiosAripuana and Ji-Parana first emptied out the former Tenharim Lake into the modern Madeira, there where for a long time lacus- trine environments and wetlands had deposited white sand. The former clear-water drainage system left behind, aside of the Tenharim Savanna, many smaller patches of white-sand savanna and savanna forest on alluvial sandy soils deposited by former Pliocene and Early Pleistocene rivers and streams. Locally, new rivers arose and began to drain these areas dotted with white-sand savannas and stretches of savanna forest. That explains why they are of the black-water type. To name a few: the Rios Araua, Mariepaua, Urua, Manicore,Atininga, Canuma, Su- cunduri, AcarL Some local rivers draining areas that do not contain alluvial white-sand deposits, but instead having heavily weathered pre-Cambrian arenite (sandstone) reaching the surface, remained of the clear-water type, such as the Rios Aracu, Arauazinho, and Juma. The entire former (Plio- cene) clear-water drainage system, from then on, was intersected by new rivers draining the system in opposite ( so u th -n o rth ) direction, most import- antly the Rios Aripuana, Tapajos- Juruena, Xingu, Teles-Pires, and Araguaia. In the course of several millions of years, a different biome could develop in this SE Amazon clear-water drainage system harboring a mixture of endemics and newcomers. The latter were ancestral forms of non-volant terrestrial mammals that, after cros- sing the Panamanian land bridge formed between 2.5-3 MYA, had migrated into the northern and western sub-andine regions of the Amazon. Subsequently, some managed to traverse the proto-M adeira River and established themselves in most of this ancient clear-water drainage system. As such, newcomers such as ancestral collared and white-lipped peccaries, jaguars, pumas, small cats, canids, coatis and mustelids, lived side by side with endemics such as primates, rodents (squirrels, pacas, agoutis, acouchis, capybaras, spiny rats), marsupials (D idelphidae), edentates (anteaters. armadillos, sloths), tapirs, and porcupines. Not before the last glacial period of the Holocene, about 10,000 YA, some modern mega-fauna elements, among which the common spotted paca A. pdCd, that had evolved west and north of the strong geographic barrier formed by the non-meandering Rio Madeira, managed to circumvent the head- waters of the Rio Madeira. Thereafter, they mi- grated into the Rios Madeira/Tapajos inter fluvium. They took either the northwestern route following the western border of the Tenharim Savanna, or the southeastern route circumventing the Tenharim Savanna along the southern border, or they mi- grated into the Rios Madeira/Tapajos interfluvium along both paths. So, they entered a different eco- system full of phylogenetically related but for- merly allopatric species endemic to the region. Consequently, the new-comers may then have out- competed closely related species that occupied similar ecological niches, causing their extinction. Or, one species may have become genetically absorbed by the other through cross-breeding. Or, allopatric species may have diverged that much from one another in habitat and dietary preferences, foraging strategy and/or social and sexual behavior, that they were able to co-exist and live on in sym- patry. The latter scenario may well explain, for instance, the sympatric occurrence in the Rio Aripuana Basin of two different species of brocket deer (i.e., Mazamci nemorivdgd and M. tienhoveni n. sp.) and two different species of paca (i.e., the common spotted paca A. pdCd and Silva Garcia’s striped giant p ac a A. silvdgdvtide n . sp.). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Molecular analyses were co-financed by the Treub Stichting (Society for the Advancement of Research in the Tropics), and performed at the Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre of Wageningen University, The Netherlands. The author received a grant for conducting biodiversity fieldwork in the Aripuana region from the Van Tienhoven Foundation for International Nature Conservation. We are grateful to Rene Dekker and Hein van Grouw of The Netherlands Natural History Museum Naturalis in Leiden, who kindly provided their museum specimens for our com- parative research on the genus MdZdlTld. Hotspot of new megafauna found in the Central Amazon (Brazil): the lower RioAripuana Basin 243 REFERENCES Caloi L., Kotsakis T., Palombo M.R. & Petronio C 1996. In: Shoshani J. & Tassy P. (Eds.), 1996. The Proboscidae: evolution and palaeoecology of ele- phants and their relatives. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 234-239. Domning D .P. & Hayek L.C., 1986. 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John Hopkins University Press, B al- tim ore, 1206 pp. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 245-252 Monograph The diversity of wild animals at Fezzan Province (Libya) Mohamed Faisel Ashour Essghaier, Ibrahim MoftahTaboni & Khaled Salem Etayeb* Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Tripoli University, P.O.Box:13227, Tripoli, Libya Corresponding author, e-mail: khaledetayeb@ yahoo.com ABSTRACT Fezzan province (Libya) is a segment of true Sahara, is characterized by diverse habitats that are utilized as shelters and feeding ground for many desert wildlife species. Oases with water table near the surface are the most prominent feature in the Libyan desert. The diversity in habitats resulted in diversity in wildlife, as well as the plant cover (trees and bushes) is the most effective factor for the existence and the abundance of wild animals, in particular bird species. This study observed many species of reptiles, birds and mammals. In the study is also reported the rock hyrax PWCCIVICI CCipensis Pallas, 1 766 (Hyracoidea Procaviidae) a rare and endemic species at the area. KEY WORDS Oases; diversity; endemic; wild animals. Received 25.06.2014; accepted 30.08.2014; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Cong re ss “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6 th - 1 8 th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION Libya is mostly characterized by arid climatic conditions, except the coastal strip and the northern hills toward the east and the west, while the rest of the country is located under the conditions of desert and semi-desert because of its geographical location in terms of latitude. This resulted in the presence of environments with distinct characteristics in terms of temperature, humidity and rainfall that reflected on the biological components of the plants and the animals that are able to co-exist in various ways with those difficult environmental conditions (Hufnagel, 1972). In Libya there are a lot of ecosystems that range from the coastal environment with all its scattered salt marshes along the coastline, to green plains in the northeastern region and northwest highlands (which include N afusa Mountains), to desert and semi-desert ecosystem showing its content of oases and valleys (Toschi, 1 969). The desert is ecologic- ally sensitive and very important in terms of wildlife (flora and fauna), which coexist in this habitat in spite of the harsh living conditions as much heat, especially during the summer months in addition to water scarcity and drought. However, these systems include a few diversity and abund- ance of species particularly those that have the capacity to live under these circumstances and some of them are endemic. Fezzan province is a segment of true Sahara, is characterized by many habitats that are utilized as shelters and feeding ground for many desert wild- life species (Bundy, 1 976). It is situated in the southwest of Libya within the desert ecosystem, which includes desert wadis, oases, palm planta- tions and irrigated cropland. Studies and reports, which are relatively scarce since the period of Italian occupation until the present, concluded that the wildlife in this region has declined in terms of number of species and individuals to alarming situation where some taxa are either subject to 246 M.F.A. Essghaier et alii extinction or already had disappeared from their previous range. The reason of it can be attributed to: (i) urbanization in some areas on the expense of natural resources and natural vegetation; (ii) construction of roads leading to the open areas where the shelters and habitats for wildlife are; (iii) modern vehicles which facilitated access to rugged areas; (iv) overhunting; (v) explorations and oil investments and activities associated with this industry; (vi) establishment of some sites for the purpose of various agricultural activities which led to the presence of human activity with a negative impact on wildlife communities and, (vii) desert tourism that led to the emergence of some negative effects (Sbeta et al., 2006). In spite of all the mentioned circumstances met in this region, either due to Nature (high temper- atures and scarcity of water surfaces and precipita- tion), or to different activities of humans that have negative effects on wildlife, especially those onset early in the sixties, there still are a number of species inhabiting the desert wadis and oases. In this study we report some examples of animal species which were recorded in the region, and whose presence we hope to continue to record in some areas of the region, even if they are few in number. However, wildlife studies in the province of Fezzan need to focus on areas that may be susceptible of urbanization and Industrial sprawl, in order to save (for future generations) what can be saved of wildlife that still inhabit some of these sites. This study is based on a review of available publications and reports since the last decades until now, supported by field visits to the selected sites of the region to investigate the species of reptiles, birds and mammals. Study area This study was focused on the diversity of animals in eight sites (Wadi Al-shati, Sebha, Traghen, Murzuq, Ubari, Al-awenat, Ghat and Akakus) at Fezzan region (Fig. 1). The habitat type is mainly arid (72% of the total area of the region) whith very harsh environmental conditions which are unsuitable for the growth of plants (Sbeta et al., 2006). The rest of the region can be classified into; irrigated crops area, planta- tions of palm trees, pastoral land and salt marshes (Table 1). MATERIAL AND METHODS Field visits were conducted in summer 2006 by the authors of the present paper. Observations, collection of samples and bird watching started from dawn to dusk. Opticron binoculars (with magnifica- tion 10x50) and Optolyth spotting-scope were used for accounting of birds, as well as for some wild mammals. Field guides (Heinzel et al., 1 998; Figure 1. Map of Libya showing the study area. Habitat type Area in hectare 0/ /o Irrigated agricultural land 1 37.500 0.25 Plantation of palm trees 39.675 0.07 Pastures and dry valleys 80.65 1 0.15 Arid land 40,137.1 85 72.25 Sands and sand dunes 15,109.334 27.20 Salt marshes (Sobkhas) 36.536 0.07 U rban areas 1 1 .949 0.02 Total 55,552.830 100.00 Table 1. The percentage of each habitat type in Fezzan province. Source: Project of natural resources mapping for agricultural use and planning (Libya/04). The diversity of wild animals at Fezzan Province (Libya) 247 Mullarney et al., 2001) were used to identify birds. However, the status of bird species was assigned by their frequency of occurrence. The following categories were adapted from Bundy (1 976) and Toschi (1 969): MB - Migrant breeder; PV - Passage visitor; RB - R esident breeder; W V - Winter visitor. Reptiles were collected by us- ing rubber bands, while life traps were fitted for overnight to catch rodents species. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Amphibians and Reptiles Despite the harsh climatic conditions in the whole province, which is inappropriate for the presence of life, the streams and cultivated areas, including some wetlands easily available, provided an opportunity for some amphibian species to inhabit the area.Amphibian diversity in the Mediter- ranean basin is much lower than reptile diversity. This being largely a reflection of the extent to which arid and semi-arid habitats predominate in large parts of the region (Cox et al., 2006). In this study two species of amphibians and fourteen species of reptiles were encountered (Table 2). The sub desert Toad Amietophrynus xeros, previously known as Bufo XeWS, was observed in pools and farms in Sebha and Ghat, this finding is in accordance with the results of Ibrahim (2008). We also observed Green Toad Bufo viridis in either COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME SITE OF OBSERVATION 1 S ub desert Toad Amietophrynus xeros (Tandy, Tandy, Keith et D uff-M acKay, 1976) S ebha. Ghat 2 Green Toad Bufo viridis (Laurenti, 1768) Sebha, Murzuq, Al-awenat and Ghat 3 B ib ron’s agam a Agama impalearis b oettger, 18 74 Al-awenat, Akakus 4 D esert agam a Trapelus mutabilis (M errem , 1 8 2 0) Ubari, Al-Awenat 5 B ell’s dabb-lizard Uromastyx acanthinura B ell, 1825 Al-shati, Traghen, Al-awenat 6 Ragazzi’s fan-footed gecko Ptyodactylus ragazzii A nderson, 1898 T raghen 7 Elegant gecko Stenodactylus sthenodactylus (Lichtenstein, 1 823) T rag hen 8 Moorish gecko Tarentola mauritanica Linnaeus, 1758 Al-shati, Sebha, Traghen, M urzuq 9 Tripoli dwarf gecko Tropiocolotes tripolitanus Peters, 1880 Al-Shati, Sebha, Traghen 10 N idua lizard Acanthodactylus scutellatus (Audouin, 1827) Traghen, M urzuq, Ubari 11 Leopard Fringe-fingered Lizard Acanthodactylus pardalis (Lichtenstein, 1 823) M urzuq 12 Red-Spotted Small Lizard/ D esert-Racer Mesalina rubropunctata (Lichtenstein, 1 823 ) Traghen, Murzuq 13 O cellated skink Chalcides ocellatus Lorsskal, 17 75 Al-Shati, Sebha, M urzuq 14 Sand fish Scincus scincus (Linnaeus, 1758) Al-Shati, Traghen, Ubari 15 Schokari Sand Snake Psammophis schokari (Forskal, 1775) Traghen, Ubari 16 Horned viper Cerastes cerastes Linnaeus, 1758 Al-shati, Sebha, Traghen, M urzuq Table 2. Species of amphibians and reptiles recorded in study area. 248 M.F.A. Essghaier et alii cultivated lands or wetlands in Sebha, M urzuq, Al- awenat and Ghat. Scortecci (1935) mentioned the presence of this species in the province of Fezzan. Studies on reptiles are very rare, but the desert valleys and some habitats in the region are the most important areas for some species of lizards, such as: Desert monitor VcirCMUS griseUS (Daudin, 1803), Chameleon CHaniaeleO chcilflUeleon Linnaeus, 175 8 and Spiny-tailed lizards UromClStyX ClCanthinura. Furthermore, the most important species of snakes that live in this environment is the Florned desert viper Cerastes cerastes (Bennett, 1 970; Awami, 1976; Ibrahim, 2008). A total of 14 species of rep- tiles were recorded in the present paper in the province (Table 2). However, the majority of them are mentioned in some previous studies (e.g. Kramer & Schnurrenberger, 1963; Schleich et al., 1996; Frynta et al., 2000; Ibrahim, 2008), except the Desert agama TrapelliS YYllltabUis which was observed in Al-Awenat and Akakus and recorded for the first time in these sites (Fig. 2). Schleich et al. (1996) reported the presence of this species in Cyrenaica (east to Tubruk) and Wagner et al. (2011) mentioned another record of this species in Tripoli. Birds The present study accounted a total of 2975 in- dividuals belonging to 26 bird species; the majority of them were non-w aterbirds species with a disparity in numbers of species and individuals between sites (Table 3). A total of 12 species were reported as resident breeders (Bundy, 1976). However, many previous studies during decades ago reported the presence of more than 100 species as winter visitors during their migration from Asia and Europe to Africa, where they stop for few days and then continue to the south. While around 20 species we re recorded as residents along the year seasons such as; Sandgrouses Pteracles orientalis, Pteracles senegal- lus, Owls Bubo bubo. Partridge Alectoris barbara and some species of raptors (Toschi, 1969; Bundy, 1976; Brehme e t al. , 2002 a, b , 2 00 3 a , b , 2004 ). Fezzan province is composed of many oases, cultivated areas, irrigated crop sites, urban and res- idential areas, these may provide roosting sites and shelters for many bird species, particularly, those who adapted to live within and adjacent to anthro- pological environments. This reflects the large num- bers of sparrows that inhabit the urban areas (Spanish sp arro w andDesertsparrow;fig.3),whilst those species were absent in Akakus. Furthermore, there was a difference in species diversity among the study sites depending on habitat types. Five w aterbirds species ( Ardea dtierea, Egretta garzetta, Ardeola ralloides, Anas quer- quedula and Gallinula chloropus) were observed in Sebha (sewage site) and Ubari (oases); while the rest of species were found on plant covers (bushes, shrubs and trees; pers. obs.). Mammals The province of Fezzan is reasonably character- ized by good diversity of Mammal species. During this study a total of 11 species were recorded. Order Erinaceomorpha and Chiroptera Two species of hedgehogs belong to the family Erinaceidae were observed: Long-eared hedgehog, Hemiechinus auritus S.G. Gmelin, 1770 and desert hedgehog, ParaechinUS aethiopicus (Ehrenberg, 1 832) close to the farmlands in Traghen and M urzuq. These two species are common in the area (H ufnagel, 1 972). A bat species from family Vespertilionidae ( Pipis - terellus sp.) was observed just after the sunset at all visited sites. As all species of mammals in the south of Libya, bats need to be addressed in a comprehens- ive study in order to identify the extant species and their relations to other bats populations in the north. Order Carnivora Of this group of mammals, only two species where recorded, the Jackal CaYlis aureus Linnaeus, 1 758 was only identified by tracks left in sites in Traghen. It usually inhabits areas with optimum food and shelter. This species is reported in different types ofLibya habitats (Hufnagel, 1972). However, IUCN classified this species as Least Concern, due to its widespread range, but due to the urbanization and destruction of natural habitats, these animals were no longer seen in the nature (pers. observa- tions). Lurthermore, a Caracas of Lennec, VulpeS Zmfl Zimmermann, 1 780 was found on the road between Al-awenat and Ghat. Despite, this species is very common in the province; especially close to human dwellings. The diversity of wild animals at Fezzan Province (Libya) 249 Scientific name Common name Wadi Al-shati Sebha Traghen Murzuq Ubari Al- awenat Ghat Akakus Status 1 Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 Grey heron - l - - - - - - PV 2 Egretta garzetta (Linnaeus, 1766) Little egret - 6 - 8 - - - - PV 3 Ardeola ralloides Scopoli, 1769 S quacco Heron - 5 - - - - - - PV 4 Ciconia ciconia Linnaeus, 175 8 W hite stork - - - - 36 1 died - - PV 5 Anas querquedula Linnaeus, 1758 G arg aney - 8 - - - - - - PV 6 Circus aeruginosus Linnaeus, 1758 M arsh harrier - - - - 2 - - - PV 7 Falco biarmicus Temminck, 18 2 5 Lanner Falcon - - - - 5 - - - RB 8 Gallinula chloropus (Linnaeus, 1758) M orhen - 1 - 3 7 - - - RB 9 Pterocles coronatus Lichtenstein, 1823 Crowned S andgrouse - - - - 38 - - - RB 10 Columba livia G m elin, 1789 Rock dove - - - - - - 77 55 RB 11 S treptopelia turtur (Linnaeus, 1758) T urtle dove - 50 38 20 22 - - - M B 12 Streptopelia senegalensis (Linnaeus, 1 7 76) Laughing Dove 60 17 70 30 50 42 28 - M B 13 Apus pallidus Shelley, 1870 Pallid sw ift - 65 - - 30 - - - M B 14 Galerida cristata (Linnaeus, 1 758) Crested lark - - - - - 1 19 - RB 15 Ammomanes deserti (Lichtenstein, 1 823) D esert lark - - - - 23 7 15 - RB 16 Riparia riparia (Linnaeus, 1758) S and m artin - - - - - - 33 14 PV 17 Cercotrichas galactotes (Temminck, 1820) R u fo u s Bush Robin 18 - - 10 1 7 14 18 - PV 18 Oenanthe leucopyga (Brehm, 1855) W hite- cro w ned W heatear 18 - 17 1 1 22 36 14 2 RB 19 Acrocephalus scirpaceus (H erm an n , 1 8 04) Reed w arb ler - 18 - 18 - - - - PV 20 Iduna pallida (H em prich et Ehrenberg, 1 833) O livaceous W arb ler 22 - - - 1 1 5 17 - M B Table 3. Numbers of birds species observed in Fezzan province and their status (continued). 250 M.F.A. Essghaier et alii Scientific name Common name Wadi Al-shati Sebha Traghen Murzuq Ubari Al- awenat Ghat Akakus Status 21 Lanius meridionalis (Temminck, 1 820) G reat grey shrike 17 29 - 12 2 - - - RB 22 Turdoides fulva (D esfontaines, 1789) Fulvous Babbler 28 - 14 13 9 - - - RB 23 Corvus ruficollis Lesson, 1830 B ro w ii- ii e c k e d Raven 9 - - 7 100 12 - - RB 24 Passer hispaniolensis Temminck, 1820 Spanish Sparrow 150 200 120 150 150 160 300 - W V 25 Passer simplex (Lichtenstein, 1 823) D esert Sparrow - 50 50 100 - - 90 4 RB 26 Emberiza sahari Levaillant, 1850 House B unting - - - - - - 25 - RB TOTAL 322 450 309 382 524 277 636 75 2975 Table 3 (continued). Numbers of birds species observed in Fezzan province and their status. o rder Hyracoidea One of the most important finding of this study is the observation of Rock hyrax, PwCdVid Cdpeiisis Pallas, 1 766. It occurs throughout most of Africa from the southernmost tip north to a line from Senegal throughout southern Algeria, Libya and Egypt into the Middle East, except Congo and Madagascar (Olds & Shoshani, 1 982). The rock hyrax is one of the four living species of the order Hyracoidea, and the only living species in the genus PrOCClvici Storr, 1780. However, the distribution of this species in Libya is limited to the far southern mountains (Hufnagel, 1 972). Study on distribution, density and biology of this species in Libya is needed. We had a visit to Akakus mountains, where usually this species had been found, but we could not observe any individuals in the area. However, our observation of this animal is based on four captives of this species kept in an old rocky house of a local family (Fig. 4). o rder Artiodactyla Even-toed ungulates are more or less rare in the province. In this study two species of family Bo- vidae were sighted; Barbary sheep, AnWIOtVdgUS lervia Pallas, 1 777 and Dorcas gazelle, GdZelld doTCCIS Linnaeus, 1 75 8 ). Only horns of barbary sheep were recovered in Al-Awenat (Fig. 5a). It was a clear evidence of the presence of this species around the area. Moreover, locals emphasized that this species still exists in the region. A total of 12 Dorcas gazelle were observed in Al-jaza’a protected area in Al-Shati (Fig. 5b). This species cover a wide range in Libya (Bennett, 1 970; Hufnagel, 1 972; Essghaier, 1980), but population trend has recently declined due to overhunting and habitat destruction. Order Lagomorpha R ab bit, LepUS sp. is the most common widely distributed species in Libya (Hufnagel, 1 972); usually inhabits macchia-type vegetation, grass- land, bushveld, and semi-desert areas. This species was observed in the most study sites (WadiAl-shati, Sebha,Traghen,Murzuq and Ubari). o rder Rodent ia Two species of rodents were reported by the present study, Jerboa JdCulliS jdClluluS (Linnaeus, 1758) of family Dipodidae and Gerbil, GerbilluS sp . of family M uridae, which is in accordance with the findings ofHufnagel (1972). A total of 5 specimens The diversity of wild animals at Fezzan Province (Libya) 25 1 Figure 2. Desert agama TrapeluS llUlt- abilis (Akakus).Figure 3. A female of Desert sparrow. Figure 4. Rock hyrax in an old house in Al-Awenat. Figure 5. Horns ofBarbary sheep. Figure 6. Dorcas gazelle in Aljaza’a protec ted area in Al-Shati. 252 M.F.A. Essghaier et alii of Gerbil were caught by life traps at the area between Wadi Al-shati and Sebha. However, the distribution of these species can be estimated by their w holes. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, the present study, conducted during summer 2006 , documented some species from different orders of vertebrates. It is also high- lighted the importance of biodiversity in Fezzan province. Altough the survey was in summer, and thus few numbers of species and individuals were observed, nevertheless, it is emphasized the wild animal diversity and urged the need to implement a comprehensive study for the province in different seasons of the year. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors of this paper are grateful to the Engineering Consul ting Bureau,Ministry of Hous- ing and U tilities. REFERENCES AwamiA., 1976. Guide to NaturalHistory Museum. The Authority ofArchaeology, Libya, 65 pp. Bennett C., 1970. W ild animals of Libya. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Sciences. Field notes, 11 pp. Brehme S., Thiede W. & Borges E., 2002a. Beitrage zur vogewelt Libyens, II: P o d ic ip ed id ae bis Anatidae. O rnithologische M itteilungen, 6: 202-2 12. Brehme S., Thiede W. & Borges E ., 2002b. Beitrage zur vogewelt Libyens, III: Accipitridae bis C h aradriid ae . O rnithologische M itteilungen, 2: 54-66. Brehme S., Thiede W. & Borges E. 2003a. Beitrage zur vogewelt Libyens, IV: Scolopacidae bis Ptero- clididae.OrnithologischeMitteilungen, 11: 391-399. Brehme S ., Thiede W. & Borges E ., 2003b. Beitrage zur vogewelt Libyens, V: Columbidae bis Hirundinidae. Ornithologische M itteilungen, 7/8: 277-287. Brehme S., Thiede W. & Borges E., 2004. Beitrage zur vogewelt Libyens, VI: Motacillidae bis Turdidae. Ornithologische M itteilungen, 6/7: 207-219. Bundy G ., 1 976. The Birds of Libya. British Ornitholo- gists Union, 1976, London, NW1 4RY, 102 pp. Cox N ., Chanson J. & Stuart S. (Compilers), 2006. The Status and Distribution of Reptiles and Amphibians of the Mediterranean Basin. IUCN, Gland, Switzer- land and Camb ridge, UK. vii + 51 pp. Essghaier M .F.A ., 1 980. A plea for Libya's gazelles. Oryx, 1 5: 384-385. Frynta D., Kratochvil L., Moravec J., Benda P., Dandova R., Kaftan M ., Klosova K., Mikulova P., Nova P. & Schwarzova L., 2000. Amphibians and reptiles re- cently recorded in Libya. Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae, 64: 1 7-26. Heinzel H., R.S.R. Fitter & Parslow J., 1995. Birds of Britain and Europe with N orth A frica and the Middle East. Harper Collins, London, 384 pp. Hufnagel E., 1 972. Libyan Mammals. The oleander press, 85 pp. Ibrahim A .A ., 2008. Contribution to the herpetology of southern Libya. Acta Herpetologica, 3: 35-49. Kramer E. & Schnurrenberger H., 1963. Systematik, Verbreitung und Okologie der Lybischen Schlangen. Revue suisse de zoologie, 70: 453-568. Mullarney K., Svensson L., Zetterstrom D. & Peter J. Grant., 200 1. The most complete field guide to the birds ofBritain and Europe. Harper Collins, London, 400 pp. Olds N. & Shoshani J., 1982. ProCClvid Capensis. M am - malian Species, 171: 1-7. Schleich H., Kastle W. & Kabisch K. 1996.Amphibians and Reptiles of North Africa. Koenigstein, Koeltz Scientific Books, 627 pp. Sbeta A., Mansour S., Essghaier M. & Al-hamali K ., 2006. Plant cover and wildlife in Fezzan province. The third generation project plans. Engineering Consulting Bureau, Ministry of Housing and Utilit- ies. Unpublished report, 39 pp. Scortecci G ., 1 935. Cenni sui risultati di una campagna di ricerche zoologiche nel Fezzan. N atura, 25: 93- 103. Schleich HH, Kastle W. & Kabisch K., 1 996. Amphi- bians and Reptiles of North Africa. Koenigstein, Koeltz Scientific Books, 630 pp. ToschiA., 1969. Introduzione alia ornitologia della Libia. Supplemento alle ricerche di zoologia applicata alia caccia, 6 : 1-381. Wagner P., Melville J., Wilms T.M . & Schmitz A., 201 1. Opening a box of cryptic taxa - the first review of the North African desert lizards in the TrCipelllS TYlUtClbilis Merrem, 1820 complex (Squama ta: Agamidae) with descriptions of new taxa. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 1 63: 884-9 1 2. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 253-262 Results of the eighth winter waterbird census in Libya in January 20 1 2 Khaled Salem Etayeb 1 *, Ali Berbash 2 , Wajeeh Bashimam 3 , Mohamed Bouzainen 2 , Ashrof Galidana 2 , Mokhtar Saied 2 ,JaberYahia 2 & Essam Bourass 2 'Tripoli University, Department of Zoology, P.O. Box 13227, Lybia 2 Environment General Authority, (EGA-Libya), Lybia 3 Libyan Society for Birds (LSB), Lybia ‘Corresponding author ABSTRACT After sporadic observations and reports on Libyan birds during the last century, a regular census of wintering birds at Libyan coastal wetlands started in January 2005. Results of each winter census till 2011 have been published. The survey of 2012 was carried out by the authors of the present paper. The general aim was to continue the census of wintering waterbirds in Libya, despite the difficulties that faced the team after the War of Liberation, and the fact that certain areas, very important for birds, have been declared military areas. A total of 29,3 14 individuals belonging to 69 waterbird species was counted. Comparatively, the number of sites covered in 2012 was less than that in previous years of the survey. The majority of individuals counted belong to seven gull species. This survey also observed a total of 56 individuals of Ay thy a nyroca Guldenstadt, 1770, a Near Threatened species, as well as, for the first time, a single individual of Canada Goose Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) in eastern Libya. KEY WORDS Waterbirds; Aythya nyroca; Canada Goose; Libya. Received 16.07.2014; accepted 15.10.2014; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 16th- 18th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION After sporadic observations and reports of Libyan birds during the last century, a regular census of wintering birds at Libyan coastal wet- lands started in January 2005. Results of each winter census till January 2011 have been published (e.g. Azafzaf et al., 2005, 2006; Etayeb et al., 2007; Hamza et al., 2008). These field surveys resulted in the publication of the Atlas of Wintering Waterbirds of Libya 2005- 2010. In addition, 2005 and 2006 results were published in Wildfowl (Smart et al., 2006) and recently, results of the seventh winter waterbird census in Libya (January-February 2011) were published (Bourass et al., 2013). The Environment General Authority (EGA), the official Libyan body responsible for the implementation of international agreements relat- ing to biodiversity, co-sponsored the previous ornithological surveys of wetlands in Libya, under a Memorandum of Agreement with the RAC/SPA and AEWA, and with support from Wetlands International, the Instituto Nazionale per la Fauna Selvatica INFS (Italy) and the Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage ONCFS (France). 254 K.S. Etayeb et alii The survey of 2012 was carried out by the authors of the present paper. The general aim was to continue the census of wintering waterbirds in Libya, despite the difficulties that faced the team after the War of Liberation and the declaration of certain very important areas for birds as military areas. The study also aimed to compare the present results with the previous results (2005-2011) and to report on whether there were records of any new species. MATERIAL AND METHODS The survey was principally focused on the far eastern and western regions, and very few sites in the middle region of the country were covered (Fig. 1). A total of 42 sites was covered (Table 1); the survey was carried out in two periods, 3rd-8th Jan and 22nd-31st Jan. Moreover, unlike previous years, the survey of 2012 excluded some important bird sites, because of their declaration as military sites during the Libyan War of Liberation. Unfortunately, there was no access to the Tawergha complex (Qaser Ahmed, Tawergha Spring and A1 Hisha; 32°00T2,9" N; 15°08'41,9" E) one of the most important sites for waterbirds, where numerous species and individuals were ob- served in previous years (2005-2011). In order to examine the population trend of waterbirds winter- ing in Libya from 2005 to 2012, the Living Planet Index (LPI) was used. The use of LPI was started in 1997 by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to investigate the changes of global biodiversity over time, especially for measuring the average trends of vertebrate populations (Loh et al., 2005). In this paper, the Chain method was used to calculate the index, where the logarithm of the ratio of the population of each pair of years was calcu- lated using the formula: d t = log(N t /N t . 1 ) where N= population size and t= years (time). The specific values of dt were generated for nt as: n t dt = l Id it n t i-i Finally, the index for waterbird populations in Libyan wetlands in a standard year t was calculated as: dt I t = I t _i 10 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The overall number of species and individuals of waterbirds and non-waterbirds was lower than "i A MALTA MEDITERRANEAN SEA CRETE TUNISIA ~ ■ ♦ • • i . . - • • / 4 • • 4 A TT TV T A LIBYA EGYPT Figure 1. Sites included in the winter census in January 2012. Results of the eighth winter waterbird census in Libya in January 2012 255 S.n site name N E 1 Ajdabiyah GMMR reservoir 30.58 20.34694 2 Ajdabiyah sewage farm 30.69472 20.25889 3 Al Labadia 32.50472 20.89306 4 Al Mallahah 32.89972 13.28694 5 Al Maqarin karstic lakes 32.15917 20.13861 6 Assabri beach 32.13667 20.07278 7 Ayn Taqnit 32.125 12.80722 8 Ayn Zayyanah 32.21389 20.15556 9 Bab al Bahr coast 32.89667 13.16417 10 Benghazi harbours 32.10472 20.05778 11 Bin Jawwad dam 30.80028 18.06694 12 Bou Dzira 32.16833 20.13194 13 Coast Abu Kammash to Ras Ajdir 33.11139 11.63639 14 Farwah Lagoon 33.08806 11.76028 15 Sabkhat Abu Kammash 33.08389 11.59389 16 Sabkhat al Kuz 32.44083 20.43333 17 Sabkhat al Manqub 32.90944 12.12639 18 Sabkhat al Thama and Sabkhat Esselawi 32.14944 20.10278 19 Sabkhat ash Shuwayrib 30.72361 20.12972 20 Sabkhat at Tamimi 32.35917 23.07528 21 Sabkhat Ayn ash Shaqiqah 32.81444 21.47972 22 Sabkhat Ayn az Zarqa 32.80444 21.45917 23 Sabkhat Fairuz 32.04333 20.02222 24 Sabkhat Julyanah 32.09028 20.05944 25 Sabkhat Karkurah 31.40111 20.055 26 Sabkhat Millitah 32.83083 12.28278 27 Sabkhat Qaminis and Sabkhat Jaruthah 31.74528 19.93444 28 Sabkhat Qanfudhah 32.00028 19.98861 29 Sabkhat Ras at Tin 32.60917 23.12222 30 Sea off Farwah Island 33.11639 11.74861 31 Tajura coast 32.89583 13.37 32 Tobruk harbour 32.06861 23.98583 33 Tripoli harbour 32.90167 13.19194 34 Umm al Jarami 32.52444 23.09361 35 Wadi al Mujaynin dam 32.29 13.2525 36 Wadi al Qusaybat and Ain al Wahsh 32.31639 23.09694 37 Wadi at Tut dam 32.11722 12.42083 38 Wadi Ghan dam 32.23778 13.13083 39 Wadi Ka’am dam 32.39667 14.32917 40 Wadi Ka’am mouth 32.52667 14.44639 41 Wadi Zaret dam 32.10611 12.80333 42 Zuwarah harbour 32.92306 12.12139 that in all years between 2005 and 201 1, as well as the number of sites covered (Table 2). A total of 29,3 14 individuals belonging to 69 species from 20 families of waterbirds and wetland-dependent raptors was recorded during January 2012 (Table 3). This survey was mainly focused on the eastern and western regions, but included some sites in the middle region of the country. The population index of wintering waterbirds in Libya showed fluctuations throughout the years of census (2005-2012), with peaks of up to more than 50% in January of 2006, 2008 and 2010 (Fig. 2). Furthermore, the Living Planet Index showed a population decline in January 2012 of up to 0.3% for the above mentioned reasons. Family PODICIPEDIDAE Three species from this family were counted: Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis, Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis and Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus (Table 3). These species were reported in the previous surveys from 2005 to 2011 (Azafzaf et al., 2005, 2006; Etayeb et al., 2007; Hamza et al., 2008; Bourass et al., 2013). The largest number was of the Black-necked Grebe with a total of 495 individuals. Family PROCELL ARIIDAE A total of fourteen Yelkouan Shearwater Puffinus yelkouan was counted during this survey. Since the start of wintering survey in 2005, Yelko- uan Shearwater was only observed in winters 2005 (EGA-RAC/SPA Waterbird Census Team, 2012), and 2011 with a total of five individuals (Bourass et al., 2013). Family SULIDAE Six individuals of Gannet Morus bassanus were observed in winter 2012 (four in Wadi Ka'am, one at Tajura Coast and one at Farwah Island). The number of Gannets ranged from 3 to 40 individuals during the previous surveys 2005-2011, and the peak was in January 2011. Table 1 . Number of sites covered in January 2012, Libya. 256 K.S. Etayeb et alii Years 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 No. WB 29,996 51,698 39,303 53,632 40,369 51,652 34,842 29,314 No. WB sp. 79 85 92 79 65 86 81 69 No. NWB 301,60 146,621 39,130 13,378 13,047 60,000 506,155 2,054 No. NWB sp. 74 60 69 64 55 60 67 23 Covered sites 65 56 43 50 49 94 84 42 Period of census 3-17 Jan 19-31 Jan 3-15 Feb 20-31 Jan 26 Jan- 7 Feb 24 Jan- 3 Feb 29 Jan- 13 Feb 3-8 Jan, 22 Jan-1 Feb Table 2. Numbers of birds (species and individuals) counted during winters 2005 to 2012, Libya. WB=Waterbirds, NWB= Non-Waterbirds Family PHALACROCORACIDAE In January 2012 this family was represented only by the Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, with a total of 1357 individuals counted in 25 different sites. The highest numbers were observed in Wadi Ka'am and Farwah Lagoon (313 and 236, respect- ively). Since winter 2005 the total has ranged from 987 to 2606, with a peak in 2010 (EGA-RAC/SPA Waterbird Census Team, 2012). Family ARDEIDAE Five species belonging to this family were ob- served during the current survey: Cattle Egret, Squacco Heron, Little Egret, Great Egret and Grey Heron (Table 3). The highest number was of Cattle Egret, with a total of 61 1 individuals, and the lowest of Squacco Heron where only two individuals were observed in Wadi Ka'am. However, from 2005 to 2010 the number of Squacco Heron ranged from 2 to 5 (EGA-RAC/SPA Waterbird Census Team, 2012). Relatively, the numbers of the other species of this family were at the same levels for the years 2005 to 2011 (Bourass et al., 2013; EGA-RAC/SPA Waterbird Census Team, 2012). Family CICONIDAE Five individuals of White Stork Ciconia ciconia Results of the eighth winter waterbird census in Libya in January 2012 257 were counted in A1 Labadia in eastern Libya (Table 1). Bourass et al. (2013) reported a total of 86 indi- viduals in winter 2011. From 2005 to 2010 numbers ranged from 4 to 50 (EGA-RAC/SPA Waterbird Census Team, 2012). However, White Storks are more common in farmland than in coastal wetlands (Bundy, 1976). Family THRESKIORNITHIDAE The current survey counted 61 Eurasian Spoon- bills Platalea leucorodia, the lowest total so far; the peak was in 2011 with a total of 145 individuals (Bourass et al., 2013). Family PHOENICOPTERIDAE A total of 219 individuals of Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus was counted in six sites (Al Mallahah, Sabkhat Millitah, Sabkhat Abu Kam- mash, Sabkhat Qanludhah, Sabkhat al Kuz and Far- wah Lagoon). This observation is the lowest among the years from 2005 to 201 1 . Moreover, the highest number of Flamingos was observed in 2009 with a total of 3292 individuals (EGA-RAC/SPA Water- bird Census Team, 2012). Family ANATIDAE A total of 1 1 species belonging to this family was observed in this survey (Table 3). The highest numbers were of Shoveler Anas clypeata and Teal Anas crecca, with totals of 747 and 394 individuals, respectively. Other species of the family Anatidae numbered from 1 to 193 (Table 3). However, indi- vidual numbers of these species were the lowest recorded, in comparison to the numbers in previous surveys (2005-2011). Unexpectedly, during count- ing of birds in Al Labadia on 29th Jan 2012, mem- bers of the census team observed an individual of Canada Goose Branta canadensis with a flock of 111 Shoveler, seven Pintail Anas acuta and four individuals of Ferruginous Duck Ay thy a nyroca. This is the first record of this species in Libya, although two other species of geese have been reported in Libya: White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons (Bundy, 1976) and Greylag Goose Anser anser (Bundy, 1976; EGA-RAC/SPA Waterbird Census Team, 2012). Description of Canada Goose: Larger than all species of duck, long neck, brownish body, black head and neck and white patches on the face. This observation was in early morning. The team was able to observe this species at a distance of 100-120 m for more than one hour, using Swarovski Telescope and Svensson et al. (2010) guide. Family PANDIONIDAE and ACCIPITRIDAE A total of 20 Marsh Harriers Circus aeru- ginosas was observed in different wetlands along the coastline and inland. This observation is the lowest so far as the range was 21-74 individuals from 2005 to 2011 (EGA-RAC/SPA Waterbird Census Team, 2012; Bourass et al., 2013). Although it is mentioned as a winter and passage visitor (Bundy, 1976), and there is no evidence of breeding, our observations from field visits to dif- ferent sites in Libya recorded the presence of Marsh Harrier in all months of the year. Further- more, this species is reported as a resident breeder in Tunisia which is the neighbouring country to Libya (Isenmann et al., 2005). A solitary Osprey Pandion haliaetus has been observed during winter 2012 in Tajura Coast. However, a total of four individuals was observed in 2005 (Smart et al., 2006) and only one in 2008 (Hamza et al., 2008) and 2010 (EGA-RAC/SPA Waterbird Census Team, 2012). The Osprey is reported as a winter and passage visitor in Libya (Bundy, 1976). Family RALLIDAE Unlike previous years, Moorhen Gallinula chloropus was counted at only three sites (Al Mal- lahah, Wadi Ka'am and Al Labadia), with a total of 297 individuals (Table 3). However, this number was in the range of Moorhens (38-701) counted during the previous years 2005-20 11; the peak was in 2009 (EGA-RAC/SPA Waterbird Census Team, 2012). Coot Fulica atra was observed in 13 sites, mostly freshwater wetlands. The total of 901 indi- viduals is the highest among the previous winter surveys where the range was 211-763. Family HAEMATOPODIDAE A total of 22 Eurasian Oystercatcher Haema- topus ostralegus was recorded, as usual, at the westernmost wetlands on the Libyan coastline. The previous annual maximum was 56 in 201 1 (Bourass et al., 2013). 258 K.S. Etayeb et alii Family Scientific name Common name Total ANAT1DAE Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) Canada Goose 1 Tadorna tadorna (Linnaeus, 1758) Shelduck 64 Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 Mallard 26 Anas strepera (Linnaeus, 1758) Gadwall 1 Anas acuta Linnaeus, 1758 Pintail 63 Anas clypeata Linnaeus, 1758 Shoveler 747 Marm aron etta angustirostris (Menetries, 1832) Marbled Duck 10 Anas crecca Linnaeus, 1758 Teal 394 Aythyaferina (Linnaeus, 1758) Pochard 193 Ay thy a nyroca Guldenstadt, 1770 Ferruginous Duck 56 Anas sp. Duck sp. 22 PROCELLARIIDAE Puffinus yelkouan Acerbi, 1827 Yelkouan Shearwater 14 SUL1DAE Morus bassanus Linnaeus, 1758 Gannet 6 PHALACROCORAC1DAE Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758) Cormorant 1357 ARDEIDAE Bubulcus ibis Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle Egret 611 Ardeola ralloides Scopoli, 1769 Squacco Heron 2 Egretta garzetta (Linnaeus, 1776) Little Egret 116 Casmerodius albus (Linnaeus, 1758) Great Egret 19 Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 Grey Heron 83 CICONIDAE Ciconia ciconia Linnaeus, 1758 White Stork 5 THRESKIORNITHIDAE Platalea leucorodia Linnaeus, 1758 Spoonbill 61 PHOENICOPTERIDAE Phoenicopterus roseus Pallas, 1811 Flamingo 219 POD1CIPED1DAE Podiceps nigricollis Brehm, 1831 Black-necked Grebe 495 Tachybaptus ruficollis (Pallas, 1764) Little Grebe 88 Podiceps cristatus Linnaeus, 1758 Great Crested Grebe 82 ACCIP1TRIDAE Circus aeruginosus Linnaeus, 1758 Marsh Harrier 20 PANDIONIDAE Pandion haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758) Osprey 1 RALLIDAE Gallinula chloropus (Linnaeus, 1758) Moorhen 297 Fulica atra Linnaeus, 1758 Coot 901 HAEMATOPOD1DAE Haematopus ostralegus Linnaeus, 1758 Oystercatcher 22 RECURVIROSTR1DAE Himantopus himantopus Linnaeus, 1758 Black-winged Stilt 550 Recurvirostra avosetta Linnaeus, 1758 Avocet 8 BURHINIDAE Burhinus oedicnemus Linnaeus, 1758 Stone Curlew 35 CHARADR11DAE Charadrius hiaticula Linnaeus, 1758 Ringed Plover 61 Table 3. Number of waterbird species and individuals counted in January 2012, Libya (continued). Results of the eighth winter waterbird census in Libya in January 2012 259 Family Scientific name Common name Total CHARADR11DAE Charadrius alexandrinus Linnaeus, 1758 Kentish Plover 339 Pluvialis squatarola Linnaeus, 1758 Grey Plover 44 Pluvialis apricaria Linnaeus, 1758 Golden Plover 430 Vanellus vanellus Linnaeus, 1758 Lapwing 263 SCOLOPAC1DAE Calidris alba Pallas, 1764 Sanderling 12 Arenaria interpres (Linnaeus, 1758) Turnstone 27 Calidris alpina Linnaeus, 1758 Dunlin 1781 Calidris ferruginea Pontoppidan, 1763 Curlew Sandpiper 3 Calidris minuta Leisler, 1812 Little Stint 231 Tringa glareola Linnaeus, 1758 Wood Sandpiper 8 Tringa ochropus Linnaeus, 1758 Green Sandpiper 16 Actitis hypoleucos Linnaeus, 1758 Common Sandpiper 22 Tringa totanus Linnaeus, 1758 Redshank 696 Tringa erythropus Pallas, 1764 Spotted Redshank 66 Tringa nebularia Gunnerus, 1767 Greenshank 68 Tringa stagnatilis Bechstein, 1 803 Marsh Sandpiper 34 Limosa limosa Linnaeus, 1758 Black-tailed Godwit 3 Limosa lapponica Linnaeus, 1758 Bar-tailed Godwit 2 Numenius arquata Linnaeus, 1758 Curlew 340 Numenius phaeopus Linnaeus, 1758 Whimbrel 1 Gallinago gallinago Linnaeus, 1758 Snipe 110 Philomachus pugnax Linnaeus, 1758 Ruff 13 LAR1DAE Chroicocephalus ridibundus Linnaeus, 1776 Black-headed Gull 11981 Chroicocephalus genei Breme, 1839 Slender-billed Gull 804 Larus melanocephalus Temminck, 1820 Mediterranean Gull 1035 Larus argentatus Pontoppidan, 1763 Herring Gull 31 Larus michahellis Naumann, 1840 Yellow-legged Gull 1398 Larus audouinii Payraudeau, 1826 Audouin's Gull 87 Larus fuscus Linnaeus, 1758 Lesser Black-backed Gull 2374 Larus sp. Gull sp. 9 STERN ID AE Sterna sandvicensis Latham, 1787 Sandwich Tem 362 Hydroprogne caspia Pallas, 1770 Caspian Tem 40 Sterna bengalensis Lesson, 1 82 1 Lesser Crested Tem 1 Chlidonias hybridus Pallas, 1811 Whiskered Tem 43 Table 3 (continued). Number of waterbird species and individuals counted in January 2012, Libya. 260 K.S. Etayeb et alii Family RECURVIROSTRIDAE At eight Libyan coastal wetlands, 550 Black- winged Stilts Himantopus himantopus were counted (previous maximum 753 in 2011). This species is mentioned as a passage visitor (Bundy, 1976), but re- cently has been recorded as a breeder at A1 Mallahah wetland (Etayeb et al., 2013). A total of eight Avo- cets Recurvirostra avosetta was observed in two sites in eastern Libya (Al Labadia and Ayn Zayyanah). The previous annual maximum was 193 in 2006 (EGA-RAC/SPA Waterbird Census Team, 2012). Family BURHINIDAE Eurasian Stone Curlew Burhinus oedicnemus was counted in two sites: Wadi Ka’am dam and Tajura Coast with totals of 1 0 and 25 individuals respectively. The total of 35 Stone Curlews is the highest so far, with the range in the previous years of 1-12 individuals. Family CHARADRIIDAE Five species belonging to this family were obser- ved along the coastline: Ringed Plover 61 individuals (previous maximum 101 in 2011), Kentish Plover 339 individuals (previous maximum 1797 in 2007), Grey Plover 44 individuals (previous maximum 195 in 2006), Golden Plover 430 individuals (previous maximum 645 in 2006) and Lapwing 263 individuals (previous maximum 96 in 2011) (Table 3; Smart et al., 2006; Etayeb et al., 2007; EGA-RAC/SPA Waterbird Census Team, 2012; Bourass et al., 2013). Family SCOLOPACIDAE In different sites along the Libyan coast, partic- ularly those with shallow water, we counted a total of 18 species belong the family Scolopacidae. This family was the largest during this survey (see Table 3). The number of individuals varied from species to species, and the highest was 1781 for Dunlin Calidris alpina , while the lowest was a solitary Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus in Farwah Lagoon. Moreover, Redshank Tringa totanus numbered 696 (previous maximum 1544 in 2010). Only three Black-tailed Godwits Limosa limosa (previous maximum 10 in 2005, 2006) and two Bar-tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica (previous maximum 1 7 in 2011) were observed at the westernmost part of Libya (Coast Abu Kammash to Ras Ajdir). How- ever, other species fluctuated in numbers through the years from 2005 to 201 1 , and showed a relative decrease in 2012, in relation to the reduced number of sites covered. Family LARIDAE A total of seven species of gull was observed (Table 3). In comparison to the previous years, the number of individuals was very low, for instance Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus in 2012 numbered 1 1,980 individuals, whereas the pre- vious maximum was 25,352 in 2008. A total of 87 of the Near Threatened Audouin's Gull Larus audouinii (IUCN Red List) was counted in seven sites around Tripoli and Benghazi. However, this number was the lowest so far (previous maximum 670 in 2006). Family STERNIDAE Four species were observed from this family (Table 3). The highest number was for the Sandwich Tern Sterna sandvicensis with a total of 362 indi- viduals. This number was in the range of the pre- vious counts (83 in 2007 and 395 in 2010). Although this species existed in good numbers compared to the other Sterna species, there is no evidence so far of breeding in Libya. It is reported as a winter visitor (Bundy, 1976). Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia and Whiskered Tern C hlidonias hybridus were more or less in the range of previous counts (Table 3). A solitary individual of Lesser Crested Tern Sterna bengalensis was observed in Tajura Coast. This species is a summer breeder in some sites in eastern Libya. The population of Lesser Crested Tern can be seen in good numbers in Libya from late April till August (Hamza & Azafzaf, 2012). Family ALCEDINIDAE 10 individuals of Kingfisher A leedo atthis were observed at different sites along the coastline (pre- vious maximum 19 in 2005). Non-waterbird species Although this census did not target non-water- bird species, some species were occasionally recor- Results of the eighth winter waterbird census in Libya in January 2012 261 Family Scientific name Common name Total ACCIPITRIDAE Buteo rufinus (Cretzschmar, 1827) Long-legged Buzzard 2 FALCONIDAE Falco tinnunculus Linnaeus, 1758 Kestrel 3 STRIGIDAE Bubo ascalaphus (Savigny, 1809) Pharaoh Eagle Owl 1 UPUPIDAE Upupa epops Linnaeus, 1758 Hoopoe 7 ALAUDIDAE Galerida cristata Linnaeus, 1758 Crested Lark 67 Melanocorypha calandra (Linnaeus, 1766) Calandra Lark 13 H1RUNDIN1DAE Riparia riparia (Linnaeus, 1758) Sand Martin 3 Hirundo fuligula (Lichtenstein, 1 842) Rock Martin 20 Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758 Bam Swallow 6 TURD1DAE Phoenicurus ochruros (Gmelin, 1774) Black Redstart 3 MOTACILLIDAE Motacilla alba Linnaeus, 1758 White Wagtail 41 TURD1DAE Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) Robin 4 Saxicola torquata (Linnaeus, 1766) Stonechat 26 SYLVIIDAE Sylvia melanocephala (Gmelin, 1789) Sardinian Warbler 4 Acrocephalus scirpaceus (Hermann, 1804) Reed Warbler 5 Phylloscopus collybita (Vieillot, 1817) Chiffchaff 18 LANIIDAE Lanius excubitor Linnaeus, 1758 Great Grey Shrike 11 TIMAL1IDAE Turdoides fulvus (Desfontaines, 1789) Fulvous Babbler 5 CORVIDAE Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 Raven 3 STURNIDAE Stum us vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 Starling 1725 PASSERIDAE Passer domesticus Linnaeus, 1758 House Sparrow 79 FRINGILLIDAE Carduelis carduelis Linnaeus, 1758 Goldfinch 5 Serinus serinus Linnaeus, 1766 Serin 3 Table 4. Number of non-waterbird species and individuals counted in January 2012, Libya. ded in and around wetlands. A total of 2054 indi- viduals belonging to 23 species from 16 families was observed during this survey (Table 4). How- ever, these numbers were the lowest among the pre- vious years (2005-2011, see Table 2). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We sincerely acknowledge Mr. Shawki Moamer for hosting the team in Zwara. Our special thanks to Mr. Mike Smart for reviewing and proofreading the manuscript. REFERENCES Azafzaf H., Baccetti N., Defos du Rau P., Dlensi H., Essghaier M.R, Etayeb K., Hamza A. & Smart M., 2005. Report on an Ornithological Survey in Libya from 3 to 17 January 2005. Cyclostyled report to Regional Activities Centre/Special Protected Areas 262 K.S. Etayeb et alii (MAP/UNEP), Tunis, Environment General Author- ity, Libya, and African-Eurasian Waterbird Agree- ment (UNEP/AEWA). Azafzaf H., Baccetti N., Defos du Rau P., Dlensi EL, Essghaier M.F., Etayeb K., Hamza A. & Smart M., 2006. Report on an Ornithological Survey in Libya from 19 to 3 1 January 2006. Cyclostyled report to the Regional Activity Centre/Special Protected Areas (MAP/UNEP), Environment General Agency, Libya and to the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (UNEP/AEWA). Bourass E., Baccetti N., Bashimam W., Berbash A., Bouzainen M., De Faveri A., Galidan A., Saied A.M., Yahia J. & Zenatello M., 2013. Results of the seventh winter waterbird census in Libya, January-February 2011. Bulletin of the African Bird Club, 20: 20-26. Bundy G., 1976. The Birds of Libya: An Annotated Check-list. BOU Check-list No. 1. London, UK: British Ornithologists’ Union. EGA-RAC/SPA Waterbird Census Team. 2012. Atlas of Wintering Waterbirds of Libya, 2005-2010. Tunis: Imprimerie COTIM. Temporarily available at: http ://ww w. isprambiente . gov. it/files/pubblicazioni/ pubblicazionidipregio/Atlas_of_wintering_waterbird in_Libya_20052010.pdf. Etayeb K.S. & Essghaier M.F.A., 2007. Breeding of marine birds on Farwa Island, western Libya. Ostrich, 78: 419-421. Etayeb K., Essghaier M.F., Hamza A., Smart M., Azafzaf H., Defos du Rau P. & Dlensi H., 2007. Report on an Ornithological Survey in Libya from 3 to 15 February 2007. Cyclostyled report to the Regional Activities Centre/ Special Protected Areas (MAP /UNEP) and Environment General Authority, Libya. Etayeb K.S., Yahia J., Berbash A. & Essghaier M.F.A., 2013. Ornithological importance of Mallaha wetland in Tripoli, Libya. Bulletin de la Societe zoologique de France, 138: 201-211. Hamza A. & Azafzaf H., 2012. The Lesser Crested Tern, Sterna bengalensis, State of knowledge and conser- vation in the Mediterranean Small Islands. Initiative PIM, 20 pp. Hamza A., Saied A., Bourass E.M., Yahya J., Smart M., Baccetti N., Defos du Rau P., Dlensi H. & Azafzaf H., 2008. Report on a fourth winter ornithological survey in Libya, 20-31 January 2008. Cyclostyled report to the Regional Activities Centre/ Special Protected Areas (MAP/UNEP) and Environment General Authority, Libya. Isenmann P., Gaultier T., El-Hili A., Azafzaf H., Dlensi H. & Smart M., 2005. Oiseaux de Tunisie. Societe d’ Etudes Ornithologiques de France, Museum Na- tional d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. Loh J., Green R.E., Ricketts T., Lamoreux J., Jenkins M., Kapos V. & Randers J. 2005. The living planet index: using species population time series to track trends in biodiversity. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 360: 289-295. Smart M., Essghaier M.F., Etayeb K., Hamza A., Azafzaf H., Baccetti N. & Defos Du Rau R, 2006. Wetlands and wintering waterbirds in Libya, January 2005 and 2006. © Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, 56: 172-191. Svensson L., Mullamey K., Zetterstrom D. & Grant P.J., 2010. Collins Bird Guide. 2nd Revised edition. Harper Collins Publishers, United Kingdom, 448 pp. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 263-270 New knowledge on diet and monitoring of a roost of the long- eared owl, Asio otus (Linnaeus, 1 758) (Strigiformes Strigidae) on Mount Etna, Sicily Agatino Maurizio Siracusa*, Elisa Musumeci, Vera D’Urso & Giorgio Sabella 'Depart ment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences - Section of Animal Biology, University of Catania, via Androne 8 1, 95 1 24 Catania, Italy Corresponding author, e-mail: ant sir a@unict.it ABSTRACT A study during autumn and winter in Monte Serra area (Mount Etna) was performed on the pellets of a roost of long-eared owl, Asio OtUS (Linnaeus, 1 75 8) (Strigiformes Strigidae). Besides, in order to better understand the feeding habits of this species on Mount Etna, the data from Monte Serra were integrated with those from Linguaglossa Pin eta (breeding period). The study was performed through the analysis of 1,724 preys. The species most preyed was the Mammalia Microtidae MiCTOtllS SCIVii (de Selys-Longchamps, 1838). The average weight of the preys was 23.48 g, while the average meal was 36.63 g. Besides, the results of the yearly monitoring of the roost studied are given. KEY WORDS Asio otus ■ trophic niche; roost; Sicily. Received 03.11.2014; accepted 0 9.02.2 0 15; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd Interna tional Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6 th - 1 8 th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION The trop hie n ic he of Asio OtUS (Linnaeus, 1758) (S trigiform es S trig id ae) during a u turn n and w inter in a site of Mount Etna was studied in order to better understand that niche during all the year. The literat- ure data concern in g Sic ily consistonly on the in form - ation by Siracusa et al. (1 996) focalized on the diet during the reproductive period in two localities (Lin- guaglossa and Roccapalumba). Up to now, no inform- ation on the roost monitoring in Sicily are known. MATERIAL AND METHODS The studied site lies on the “Monte Serra”, one of the volcanic cones of Mount Etna, at an altitude of 450 m a.s.l., which originated on the side south- east during 122 B .C . It has a characteristic shape of a horseshoe, as a result of the collapse of the summit of the crater and of the volcano slope. In recent centuries the landscape, due to human settlement and agricultural activities, has been progressively modified and the natural vegetation was represented just by some residual strips unevenly distributed. After the abandonment of cultivation, has started a new and slow recolonisa- tion of the Mediterranean natural vegetation. This vegetation consists mainly in the bushes of ever- green holm oak, QuCVCUS HeXL., wild olive, OleO. europaea l ., and carob, Ceratonia siliqua l . The slopes of Monte Serra are covered with a shrubby in which are present the common broom, Spartium junceum l., and the Etna broom, Genista aetnensis (Raf. ex Biv.) DC, as the predominant sp ec ie s (Fig. 1 ) . 264 Agatino Maurizio Siracusa etalii At the base of the mountain, lies a forest left in its natural state, the "Forest of Cyclamen" in which the essence most represented is the tree oak, Quercus virgilicinci Ten o re , followed by hornbeam, Ostrya carpinifolia Scopoli, and flowering ash, Fraxinus ornus l . The climatic characteristics of the study area are derived on the data of the time series of the Viagrande term oplu viom etric station (Fig. 2), which is located on the slope mostaffected by rain- fall (annual rainfall higher than the whole of Etna), because invested by the moisture deriving from the Ionian Sea, which it overlooks. The study area falls within the Mediterranean B io g e o g r ap h ic a 1 Region, in the range of the m eso-M editerranean climate (Brullo et al., 1 996). The data on diet of long-eared owl in autumn and win ter were obtained from the analysis of pellets collected in a roost located at “Parco di Monte Serra”, in the period between September 2012 and March 2013. The pellets were weekly collected. The collec- ted material was provided on-site of a label re- porting a detailed tagging, as well as the date and time of collection, the GPS coordinates of indivi- dual roost sites, weather conditions, information on the presence/absence and number of specimens observed. The pellets were dried in the open air for a few days, wrapped in polythene bags containing cam- phor (to prevent any damage caused by the attack Figure 1 . Land use in area of “Monte Serra" and neighboring areas (from Angelinietal., 2009, modified). Legend according to Corine Biotopes Code: 31.81(brown) Middle-European scrubs; 32.215 (orange) low scrub w ith CalicOtOHie sp.; 34.8 1 (light brown) M editerranean subnitrophilous meadows; 41 .732 (green) peninsular and insular Italy oak deciduous woods; 45.3 1A (light green) Southern Italy and Sicilian holm oak woods; 82.1 (light yellow) arable intensive and continuous; 82.3 (yellow) cultures of extensive type and complex agricultural systems; 83.11 (azure) groves; 83.21 (blue) vineyards; 83.3 22 (dark green) plantations of EuCCllyptllS ; 83.16 (ocher brown) citrus orchards; 86.1 (gray) towns. New knowledge on diet and monitoring of a roost of the long-eared owl, Asio otus on Mount Etna, Sicily 265 of scavenging arthropods) and then transported to the laboratory to be analyzed. The content of each intact pellet was noted separately and the number of prey items concerned was taken to equal to the greatest number of identi- fied fragments of one species (greatest number of low er jaw s, etc .). For the study of the pellets was used the pellets analysis technic (Contoli, 1 9 80). The pellets were opened by dry technique, with the aid of a tweezers and of an entomological brush. For those too com- pact it was preferred the immersion in hot water for a few minutes in order to more easily separate th e bones. Before opening, were taken measures, with a digital gauge, relating to the length and the width of pellets. For the sorting of the content was used a stereoscopic microscope for better visibility of the alveoli of the molars and of the bones of small mammals. To count the preyed specimens is considered their minimum number (Chaline et al., 1 974). The jaws of the rats and the synsacrum of birds collec- ted were measured with a digital caliper, in order to estimate the weight of the preyed specimens. The identification of small mammals was based on the cranium features and dichotomous keys (Toschi & Lanza, 1 959; Toschi, 1 965; Chaline et al., 1 974; Amori et al., 2008), while for the larger prey was used the morphology of the long bones. The calculation of the biomass was carried out by assigning to each species an average weight, relative to the species of small mammals and Cole- optera in Sicily (Table 1), provided by Di Palma & Massa, 198 1, and for savi’s pine vole ( MicwtliS Savii) provided by Catalisano & Massa, 1987. Using the equation of Di Palma & Massa (198 1), the calculated average weight of the brown rat ( RattUS llOrVegicUS B erkenhout, 1 769) results 102.6 j_ 2 7 .0 (SD) g (number of sampled specimens n = 46), and 94.5 j_26.4 (SD) g (n = 14) regarding RattUS sp. The weight of 94.5 g, equivalent to that of RattUS sp., has been assigned also to RattUS VttttUS (Linnaeus, 1 75 8 ), considering that only 2 speci- mens were collected and no measurable jaws were av ailab le . Using the equation of Di Palma & Massa (1981), the calculated average weight of the birds results 14.1 j_ 5 . 2 (SD) gr (n = 187) based on synsacrum found in the pellets. Figure 2. Climogramma of Viagrande term o p lu v io m e trie station (from Zampino et al.. 1 997). Th* Weight |g) References Aftw domeltfctt* 12.3 IM Palma & Massa. 19*1 Apnkmiit ,n/i«rfrni 2o.h JJi Palma & Massa. 19*1 flfjrtfr.i 1026 RjuatlonofDi Palma 6! Massa, 19* t Mil) bp 94.5 Equation of Di Palma & Mava. 19* L Raft its rtUltis 94.5 Same weight of Ruimx bp. Mit'rtHm 20 Lalalisani) & Massa, 19*7 C rfH'idtirn j icutu 6.7 Ui Palma Jit Massa. 1 9*1 t’oleopter* 0.) Di Palma & Massa, 19*1 C hiraplera 10 l/tyrilre/fos sp. Il average wcighl of sampled species Avti 14,1 EHiiaiion of Di Ftiliru £ Massa, I9SI ( ss n sacrum I del. 34,1 As erairo wclghl uf all allegories uf pres 1 irscEud iim fttillns mu-region and L'l'ks'plcrj I Table 1. Values used for the calculation of the biomass. Besides the study of the trophic niche based on the collected pellets, the monitoring of the presence of the owls in the roost from May 2012 to June 2013 was performed (Fig. 3). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A total of entire 875 pellets were collected and examined in the Monte Serra area. The pellets have an average lenght of 32.2 +_ 7 .9 (SD) mm and an average width of 18.8 j^3.2 (SD) mm. A total of 1,421 prey have been identified (Table 2, Fig. 4), with an average of 1.62 prey/pellet; 1 or 2 prey/ pellet were found in most cases, 3 sometimes, 4 266 Agatino Maurizio Siracusa etalii occasionally. During the study period, mammals are the most represented group (about 67% of the prey) followed by birds (about 32%). MicWtUS SCIVU represents the most preyed species (50.2% of the catch), while Apodemus sylvaticus (L innaeus, Figure 3. Specimen of Asio OtllS o n QuCTCUS sp . (October 2012, photo by E. Musumeci). Monte Serra Category of prey n % weight {g> biomass (g) % Microtus savii 714 50.25 20 14280 41,88 Microtidae 714 50.25 14280 41.08 Mus domesticus 19 1.34 12.2 231.8 0.68 Apodemus sylvaticus 100 7.60 20.8 2246.4 6.59 Rattus rattus 2 0.14 94,5 189 0.55 Rattus norvegicus 75 5.28 102,6 7695 22,57 Rattus sp. 26 1,83 94.5 2457 721 Muridae 230 16.19 12819.2 37.6 Rodentia 944 66.43 27099.2 79.48 Croodura sicula 1 0.07 6.7 6.7 0.02 Soricidae 1 0,07 6.7 0.02 Soricomorpha 1 0.07 $.7 0.02 Chiroptera 7 0.49 10 70 0.21 MAMMALIA 952 67 2717S.9 79.66 AVES 452 31.81 14.1 6373.2 18.69 INSECTA Coleoptera 1 0.07 0.1 0.1 0 Mot det. 16 1.13 34.1 545.6 1.6 Total prey 1421 Pellets 875 Prey/peltets 1.62 Total biomass (g> 34094,8 Average weight prey (g) 23.99 Average meal (g) 38 .86 Table 2. Results of the pellets analysis in the study area. 1758), generally the main trophic resource in wooded areas, shows the frequency of only 7.6% . A 1 though Monte Serra is a suburban park in a discretely anthropized area, MllS domeSticUS Linnaeus, 1758 is very little represented (only 1.3%), but about 7.2% of prey (about 30% of biomass) belongs to RattUS spp. (Table 2): this latter result could be justified with the energetic advantage obtained by long-eared owl feed on rats, because these have a greater weight than other prey and owls could save energy by reducing the hunting with an equal gain of biomass. Soricom orpha and Chiroptera, as well as Insecta, are present in very low percentages of prey, less than or equal to 0.5%. The only found specimen of Soricidae, CwcidlirCl siciilci Miller, 1 900, could be due to a selective choice of prey as well as environmental factors, like the pressure of the human presence in the area of Monte Serra. It should be emphasized that, although it is uncom- mon the predation of birds, in the examined site the percentage of this prey is significant and this is in agreement with some studies conducted on winter- ing sites in Northern Italy and in Spain (Albufera de Valencia) which recorded a presence of birds even higher, 50% of the total num her of individuals preyed (M as trorilli, 2000; Escala et al., 2009). The discrepancy between these results is likely attrib- utable to the opportunistic habits of the long-eared owl that, when possible, implements group hunting strategies able to ferret out and in some cases cut off entire dormitories of passerines (Mikkola, 1 983). The data of the present study were compared with those of the long-eared owl diet during the reproductive period, detected always by the pellets analysis technic, in two Sicilian sites, Pineta di Lin- guaglossa and R o cc ap alu m b a, characterized by dif- ferent environmental features (Siracusa et al., 1996): an old pinewood and a cultivated area respectively. A total of 191 pellets were collected and ex- amined in Linguaglossa Pineta station (Table 3). Mammals are the most represented group (about 94% of the prey) followed by birds (about 6%). ApodemUS sylvaticus was the most preyed species (60% of the catch) and with MicrOtUS Savii ( 32.67% of prey) represent about 93% of the preys. MuS domesticus is very little represented (only 0.66%), while no species of RattUS were collected. Sorico- rnorpha and Chiroptera were present in very low percentages equal to 0.33% (Siracusa et al., 1996). New knowledge on diet and monitoring of a roost of the long-eared owl, Asio otus on Mount Etna, Sicily 267 m.js* Coteopiera 0.07% Noi del. 1.13% Chiioptera 1 .49% Crocitfitm sicuta Mus domesticus 1 . 34® » Roll ns sp, I 83% Rama norwgicus 5.28% 0.14% Figure 4. Graphical results of the pellets analysis in the study area. A total of 21 pellets were collected and examin- ated in Roccapalumba station (Table 3). Mammals are the most represented group (about 93% of the prey) followed by birds (more than 3%), arthropods (more than 2%) and amphibians and reptiles (about 1 . 5 %). Microtus savii was the most preyed species (89.42% of the catches), while the other species of mamma is (Apodemus sylvaticus, Mus domestic us, RattUS rattus and Crocidura sicula ) were present in very low percentages, less than 2% (Siracusa et al., 1996). In order to identify the trophic niche of the species in the piedmont areas of the Etna eastern slope, the stations of M onte Serra and Linguaglossa (a pinewood), were considered as a single sample MONTE SERRA LINGUAGLOSSA ROCCAPALUMBA Category of prey n % biomass (g) % n % biomass (g) % n % biomass (9 1 % Microtus savii 714 50.25 14280 41.88 99 32,67 1683 26.34 245 89,42 4165 89.93 Mus domesticus 19 1,34 231,8 0 68 2 0.66 25 0.39 3 1.09 37.50 0.81 Apodemus sylvaticus 108 7.60 2246.4 6 59 182 60,07 4277 66.94 1 0.36 23.50 0.51 Rattus rattus 2 0.14 189 0.55 - - - - 1 0.36 118 2.55 Rattus norvegicus 75 5.28 7695 22.57 Rattus sp. 26 1,83 2457 7.21 - - - • - - - - Crocidura sicula 1 0.07 6.7 0.02 1 0.33 6.5 0.10 5 1.82 32.50 0.70 Chlroptera 7 0,49 70 0.21 1 0.33 20 0.31 - - - - MAMMALIA 952 67 27175.9 79.66 285 94.06 6011.5 94,08 255 93.06 4376.50 94.50 AVES 452 31.81 $373.2 18.69 18 5.94 378 5.92 9 3.28 189 4.08 AMPHIBIA + REFT ILIA - - - * 4 1.46 60 1.30 ARTHROPOD A 1 0.07 0.1 0 * ifli ■ - 6 2.19 6 0.13 Not del 16 1.13 545.6 1.6 - - - - * - - - Total 875 303 274 LINGUAGLOSSA ROCCAPALUMBA Total prey 303 (243 on entire pellets} Total prey 274 (66 on entire pellets ) Pellets 191 Pellets 21 Prey/peilets 1,27* Prey/pellets 3.14* Total biomass (g) 6389.50** Total biomass (g) 4631.5 ** Average weight prey (g) 21.09** Average weight prey (g) 16.9** Average meal (g) 26.78* Average meal (g) 53.07* Table 3. Comparison of results of pellets analysis during w inter period (M t. Serra) and during breeding period of long-eared owl from Pineta di Linguaglossa and from Roccapalumba (* calculated only on prey on en tire pellets; ** calculated on total prey ) (from Siracusa et al.. 1 996, modified). 268 Agatino Maurizio Siracusa etalii (Table 4), although the first case concerns the diet in the autumn and winter, while the second case regards the trophic niche in the reproductive period. It must be emphasized that the two sites, with different vegetations, are located both in the foothill region of Etna Mountain. A total of 1,066 pellets were processed (Table 4). Also in this case, mammals are the most rep- resented group (about 72% of the prey) followed by birds (about 27%), while arthropods are almost absent. MicWtUS SClvii is the most preyed species (more than 47% of the catches), while the Muridae provide the greatestcontribution in terms of biomass (42.30% of total). Soricomorpha and Chiroptera are present in very low percentages less than or equal to 0.46%. The average weight of the preys is 23.48 g, while the average meal is 36.63 g. The roost of Mt Serra was observed by the end of May 2012, when a young specimen has been TOTAL MS+L Category of prey n % biomass fg) % Microtus savii 813 47.16 15963 39.43 Microtidae 813 47.16 15963 39.43 Mus domesticus 21 1.22 256 8 0.63 Apodemus sylvaticus 290 16.82 6523,4 16,11 Rattus rattus 2 0.12 189 0.47 Rattus norvegicus 75 4.35 7695 19 Rattus sp. 26 1.51 2457 6.07 Muridae 414 24.01 17121.2 42.30 Roden tia 1227 71.17 33084.2 81.72 Crocidura sicula 2 0.12 13.2 0.03 Sortcidae 2 0.12 13.2 0,03 Soricomorpha 2 0.12 13.2 0.03 Chiroptera 8 0.48 90 0.22 MAMMALIA 1237 71.75 33187.4 81.97 AVES 470 27.26 6751.2 16.68 INSECT A Coleoptera 1 10.06 0.1 0 Notdet. 16 0.93 545.6 1.35 Total prey 1724 {1664 on entire pellets) Pellets 1066 Preylpellets 1.56* Total biomass {g} 40484. 30** Average weight prey (g) 23.48“ Average meal (g) 36.63* Table 4. Sum of results of the pellets analysis of long-eared owl during breeding period in Pineta di Linguaglossa and during autumn in Monte Serra. * calculated only on prey on entire pellets (n=1664); * * calculated on total prey (n = 1 7 24). sighted among GcflistCl, at the end of June 2013 (Fig. 5). Although traces of their presence (as plumage and very few pellets) were evident from June to August, only in early September 2012 were observed 7 specimens on an oak near the structure used by the Butterfly House as Information Point. This same roost was used by the group for most of the autumn season. During the sightings were coun- ted from 1 to a maximum of 7 specimens, with greater presence during the afternoon hours. The owls we re quite confident and they tolerated human presence. In November sporadic observations of owls were recorded and no pellets were found. The causes of this absence could, at least partially, be attributed to human disturbance or it might have been a time of reorganization of the roost. In late November (29th), after many days of absence, a roost of mo re than 11 specimens occupied the pines located inside the playground for children of the butterfly house. This roost, that throughout the winter period was composed of about 20 speci- mens, was present until the end of February. From late February to mid-March, were observed no more than 7 specimens as to restore the situation of Septem ber-N ovem ber. No specimens were spotted from middle M arch to the end of June. This study has allowed us to integrate know- ledge about the trophic niche of the long-eared owl in Sicily for which was known a single study that refers to the diet of this species in the breeding season; however, were not known data concerning the trophic niche during the autumn-winter period and concerning the roost in wintering period. The data obtained from the pellets analysis of about 20 specimens and the analysis of the characteristics of the study area, have confirmed the selective beha- vior o f Asio otus in the choice of prey, specifically the Microtids (as shown by the high percentage of MicWtUS SQVii found). It also highlighted a certain plasticity of the species that, if necessary, takes advantage of favorable situations such as the presence of dormitories of birds that are flushed out with a technique of group hunting. The above explains the significant number of birds found in the pellets, which is not a data usually reported in bibliography. This study is also useful for the increase ofknowledge on the wintering sites of the long-eared owl in Italy and can be inserted in the national register of the roosts, set up by the project: "Gufiamo: count the long-eared owls wintering in New knowledge on diet and monitoring of a roost of the long-eared owl, Asio otus on Mount Etna, Sicily 269 Figure 5. Histogram date/number of long-eared owl specimens observed. Italy", started a few years ago from the collabora- tion of GIC & EBN Italy, with the Global owl project that provides for the establishment of a net- work containing data on the presence of the roosts in Italy. From the analysis of the monitoring of the roost of Monte Serra, one might assume the presence oftwo differentpopulations.The first one, in the Park throughout the year, although with changes in the choice of the roost and possibly with nesting site located not many miles away. The other population, more numerous, would take advantage of the Monte Serra Park as a wintering site. Specimens of this second population may be resident in the territory of Etna and make seasonal vertical migrations or could be migratory specimens that stop to winter. The hypothesis of two different populations is supported by the owl attitude observed in the days of collecting pellets. Whenever the collector approached at the roost, systematically, part of specimens are alerted and receding in flight; however, remained always 5-7 specimens, very confident, as if they were already accustomed to the environment and the presence of visitors to the park. Because the site is regularly occupied, this would allow regular long-term mon- itoring of the roost; furthermore, the use of mo- lecular studies of feathers collected throughout the year could also clarify the phenology of the species in Sicily, whose presence as a nesting species has been established only recently. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank Pierangela Angelini (ISPRA) for al- lowing the use of the shape file of Carta N atura 1:50.000 of Sicily for the characterization of the study area. REFERENCES Angelini P., Bianco P., Cardillo A., Francescato C. & Oriolo G ., 2009. G li habitat in Carta della N atura - Schede descrittive degli habitat per la cartografia 1:50.000. Manuali e linee guida 49/2009 ISPRA. Amori G., Contoli L. & N appi A ., 2008. Mammalia II: Erinaceomorpha, Soricomorpha, Lagomorpha, R o - dentia. Fauna d 'Italia, 44. C alder ini, Bologna, 754 pp. Brullo S., ScelsiF., Siracusa G. & Spampinato G., 1996. C ara tte ris tic h e b io c lim atic h e della Sicilia. Giornale Botanico Italiano, 1 30: 1 77- 1 8 5. Catalisano A. & Massa B ., 1 98 7. Considerations on the structure of the diet of the Barn Owl ( TytO albtt) in Sicily ( Italy). Bollettino di Zoologia, 54: 69-73. Chaline J., B audvin H., JammotD. & Saint Giron M.C., 1974. Les proies des rapaces. Doin ed., Paris, 141 pp. Contoli L., 1 980. Borre di Strigiformi e ricerca teriolo- gica in Italia. Natura e Montagna, 3: 73-94. Di Palma A.M.G. & Massa B., 1981. Contributo m e to - dologico perlo studio dell’alimentazione deiRapaci. In: AttidellConvegno italiano diOrnitologia,Aulla: 69-76. 270 Agatino Maurizio Siracusa etalii Escala C., Alonso D., Mazuelas D., Mendiburu A., Vilches A. & Arizaga J., 2009. W inter diet of Long- eared Owls AsiO OtllS in the Ebro valley (NE Iberia). Revista Catalana d ’ O rn ito lo g ia , 25: 49-53. Mastrorilli M., 2000. The importance of birds in the winter diet of Long-eared Owls ( AsiO OtllS ) in the Bergamo district in (Lombardy, northern Italy). Proceedings International Symposium "Ecology and Conservation of European Wood Owls", Harz: 45. Mikkola H., 1983. Owls of Europe. Poyser ed., 397 pp. Siracusa M ., Sara M ., La Mantia T. & Cairone A., 1996. Alimentazione del Gufo com une ( Asio OtllS) in Sicilia. II Naturalista siciliano, 20: 3 1 3-320. Toschi A., 1 965. Mammalia. Lagomorpha, Rodentia, Carnivora, Ungulata, Cetacea. Fauna d' Italia, 7. Calderini, Bologna, 647 pp. Toschi A. & Lanza B ., 1 959. Mammalia. Generality, Insectivora, Chiroptera. Fauna d'ltalia, 4. Calderini, Bologna, 485 pp. Zampino D ., Duro A., Piccione V. & Scalia C ., 1 997. Fitoclima della Sicilia. Termoudogrammi secondo Walter e Lieth delle stazioni te rm o p 1 u v io m e trie h e della Sicilia occidentale. In: Guerrini A. (Ed.), Atti del 6° Workshop del Progetto Strategico C. N. R. "Clima Ambiente e Territorio del Mezzogiorno" (Taormina, 13-15 Dicembre 1995), I: 229-292. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 271-284 Monograph Morphological differences between two subspecies of Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata (Pallas, 1 764) (Passeriformes Muscicapidae) Michele Vigano 1 & Andrea Corso 2 'MISC- Via Ongetta, 5-21010 Germignaga, Varese, Italy; e-mail: mikivigano@yahoo.com 2 MISC- Via Camastra, 10- 96100 Siracusa, Italy. * Corresponding author ABSTRACT Four subspecies of Spotted Flycatcher {Muscicapa striata Pallas, 1764) (Passeriformes Mus- cicapidae) are usually recognized within the Western Palaearctic. We carefully analysed two of these in order to determine and quantify their morphological differences: M. striata striata (inhabiting most of continental Europe east to the Ural mountains and a small portion of north-western Africa) and M. striata tyrrhenica Schiebel, 1910 (breeding on the Tyrrhenian islands of Corsica, Sardinia and the Tuscan Archipelago). We examined total of 58 Spotted Flycatcher specimens from Italian museums (of which 18 M. striata tyrrhenica ) and obtained data about morphological features such as wing point, length and formula, and bill length, width and depth; furthermore, we investigated plumage colour using a spectrometer. Biomet- ric measurements and an analysis of plumage streaking confirmed the presence of important differences between the two taxa; the colorimetric analysis did not produce the expected res- ults, although it had some interesting implications concerning the preservation of museum specimens and their use in studies of plumage colour. KEY WORDS Spotted Flycatcher; Muscicapa striata tyrrhenica', morphology; museum specimens. Received 26.01.2015; accepted 01.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6th- 1 8th 20 1 4, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION The Spotted Flycatcher {Muscicapa striata Pal- las, 1764) is a songbird in the family Muscicapidae and is the only member of its genus in Europe, with at least twenty more species in Asia and Africa. The Spotted Flycatcher is found through most of the Palaearctic, with a continuous distribution from the Iberian peninsula to the Mongolia-China border. It is a long-distance, trans-Saharan migrant, and most of the population winters south of the Equator (Cramp & Perrins, 1993). Seven subspecies are currently recognized in this extensive range (del Hoyo et al., 2006): M. striata striata (Pallas, 1764) (Figs. 1, 2) breeds in Europe east to the Ural mountains and in north- western Africa, and winters south of the Sahara; M. striata balearica von Jordans, 1913 (Fig. 1), breeds in the Balearic islands and winters in west- ern and south-western Africa; M. striata tyrrhe- nica Schiebel, 1910 (Figs. 1, 2), breeds in Corsica and Sardinia and presumably winters in Africa; M. striata inexpectata Dementiev, 1932, breeds in Crimea and winters in Africa; M. striata neumanni Poche, 1904, breeds in the islands of the Aegean Sea east to the Caucasus and northern Iran and south to Cyprus and the Fevant, in addition to cent- ral Siberia, and winters in eastern and southern Africa; M. striata sarudnyi Snigirewski, 1928, breeds from eastern Iran to northern and western 272 Michele Vigano & Andrea Corso Pakistan and presumably winters in southern and eastern Africa; M. striata mongola Portenko, 1955, breeds from the south-eastern Altai moun- tains to northern Mongolia, and presumably win- ters in southern and eastern Africa. Only two (M. striata striata and M. striata tyrrhenica) of these seven subspecies are regularly found in Italy, while M. striata neumanni, which could potentially occur in migration, has not yet been confirmed (Corso, 2005; Brichetti & Fracasso, 2008). The nominate subspecies breeds throughout continental Italy and Sicily, where it is considered common and widespread, although its distribution is somewhat patchy with gaps in high mountain areas. The core breeding range of M. striata tyrrhe- nica comprises Corsica and Sardinia, but contra del Hoyo et al. (2006) and Cramp & Perrins (1993), it also breeds in the Tuscan Archipelago (Brichetti & Fracasso, 2008), while its presence along a narrow band of the Tyrrhenian coast remains to be con- firmed (Brichetti & Fracasso, 2008; Tellini et al., 1997). The authors provide some interesting in- formation on the abundance of Spotted Flycatcher subspecies in Italy. Although the nominate subspecies breeds al- most throughout continental Italy, it is never abund- ant, with population densities that rarely exceed 0.2 pairs/hectare. On the other hand, as many as 0.6 pairs/hectare have been found in M. striata tyrrhe- nica (VV. AA. in Thibault & Bonaccorsi, 1999); so the species seems to fit the usual pattern on islands of densisty inflation due to lower species richness (eg MacArthur & Wilson, 1967; George, 1987; Blondel et al., 1988). Interestingly, high population densities have been recorded along the Tyrrhenian coast in Tuscany; densities are far lower only 50 km inland (Tellini et al., 1997). There are currently no reliable data on the win- tering range of M. striata tyrrhenica (Cramp & Perrins, 1993, del Hoyo et al., 2006). The M. striata tyrrhenica subspecies of the Spotted Flycatcher was described for the first time by Schiebel (1910) in a paper on the Corsican avi- fauna and a syntype taken in Aitone, Corsica, on 19 May 1910 is currently held at the Zoologisches Forschungs institut und Museum Alexander Koenig in Bonn, Germany. The identification of this subspecies is generally dealt with very super- ficially in the ornithological literature, with limited discussion of its distinguishing characteristics. Several examples are below: - Arrigoni degli Oddi (1929): “ similar to the pre- vious species [ authors ’ note: the subspecies Figure 1. In Western Europe three subspecies of Spotted Flycatcher are found: Muscicapa striata striata (blue), M. striata tyrrhenica (red) and M. striata balearica (green). Figure 2. Two subspecies of Spotted Flycatcher breed in Italy: M. striata striata (blue) and M. striata tyrrhenica (red); M. striata tyrrhenica could be present in the yellow area too, but further research is needed. Morphological differences between two subspecies of Muscicapa striata (Passeriformes Muscicapidae) 273 striata]; central spots on the cervix and streaking on breastless distinct ”; - Cramp & Perrins (1993): “ more warm brown on upperparts, distinctly less streaked on breast, streaks replaced by broader, coalescing spots''’', - Brichetti & Fracasso (2008): “ upperparts browner and warmer-toned, and streaking on the underparts less well-defined and tending to merge into spots ”; - van Duivendijk (2010): “Primary -projection slightly shorter that striata; upperparts warmer brown, underparts almost unstreaked but with broad, faint spots'”. Over the last ten years we have carried out in- depth field and museum studies on the morpholo- gical differences between the two taxa in question (Figs. 3-6). In the field, the immediate impression given by M. striata tyrrhenica is of a paler bird with wanner tones to the back and more homogeneous underparts. The breast markings, which are gener- ally well defined streaks in M. striata striata, appear faded and more spot-like. The streaking on the nape is also less well defined compared to the nominate subspecies, due to the lower contrast between the streaks and the nape’s background colour. Primary projection is one of the most important characters: while the primary projection beyond the tertials is longer that the tertials themselves in continental birds, individuals from Corsica and Sardinia have a primary projection that is shorter than, or at most equal to the length of the tertials. This paper mainly reports the results of our museum studies, while an article on field identific- ation criteria is forthcoming (Vigano et al., personal data). MATERIAL AND METHODS Our first observations on the morphological dif- ferences between the two subspecies were made in the field: M. striata tyrrhenica was studied in southern Sardinia near Villasimius (Cagliari) in July 2004, August 2005, July 2006, and May 2011 and on the island of Elba in July 2014. We have studied this taxon in Corsica as well, in the area of the Gulf of Calvi, in July 2007, July 2008, and May 2012. Our studies of M. striata striata have taken place continuously during the breeding season since 2005 in northern Italy; additionally, we have studied this taxon during spring migration on various small islands off central and southern Italy, especially Ventotene (Latina) in April 2010 and 2011 and Linosa (Agrigento) in May 2006, April 2007, and April 2009, where on good days hundreds or even thousands of individuals can be seen. Other observations took place opportunistically elsewhere in the Western Palaearctic, both during the breeding season and in migration. Studies of museums skins complemented our field observa- tions and were of fundamental importance for this paper (Figs. 7, 8; Table 1). There are very few spe- cimens of M. striata tyrrhenica in Italian and foreign museums; indeed, there are none at all in the largest bird collection in Europe at the Natural History Museum at Tring, U.K. We arranged for all of the M. striata tyrrhenica specimens held at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale in Milan, Italy (MCSM), Museo Civico di Zoologia in Rome, Italy (MCZR), and Museo di Scienze Naturali in Forli, Italy (MSNF) to be sent on short-term loan to the Museum of the Institute for Environmental Protec- tion and Research (Istituto Superiore per la Pro- tezione e la Ricerca Ambientale - ISPRA) in Ozzano dell’ Emilia (Bologna, Italy) so that they could be studied side-by-side along with the speci- mens held in the last-named institution. We took the following measurements: wing chord, longest primary (P3), distance of each primary from P3, bill length from the nostrils, bill height and thickness at the nostrils. Measures that are generally taken during ringing activities such as tail, tarsus, and bill-to-cranium length were not taken since they vary depending on the way the spe- cimen was prepared (Winker, 1998; Eck et al., 2011; Kuczynski, 2003). The measurements considered here are also subject to some degree of variation depending on specimen preparation; measurements taken on live animals may add a degree of precision and some additional information, but we felt that museum specimens were better suited to taking biometrical and plumage colour data together. As concerns wing chord length, one study that looked at the wings of Rooks ( Corvus frugilegus ) measured upon capture, after 8 weeks, and again after 144 weeks found a difference in length between fresh and dried wings of about 1.84% (Knox, 1980). Measurements were taken using a stopped ruler (to the nearest 0.5 mm), callipers (to 274 Michele Vigano & Andrea Corso Figures 3, 4. Spotted Flycatcher ( Muscicapa striata tyrrhenica), Villasimius (Cagliari), Sardinia, May 2011. Note the quite pale and warm general colour, the subtle head and breast markings and the short primary projection compared to tertials length. Figures 5, 6. Spotted Flycatcher ( Muscicapa striata striata ), Ventotene, Latina, Italy, April 2011 (Fig. 5) and Pan- telleria, Trapani, Sicily, May 2009 (Fig. 6, photo by Igor Maiorano). The overall impression is of a colder and less homo- geneous bird, with bold markings on breast and head; primary projection is longer than tertials length. Morphological differences between two subspecies of Muscicapa striata (Passeriformes Muscicapidae) 275 the nearest 0.1 mm) and a thin strip of graph paper (to the nearest 0.5 mm) strengthened by an equally thin strip of transparent plastic. The latter tool was necessary to measure P3: this feather is usually measured using a special ruler, but due to the specimens’ age, their rigidity, and their historic value, some are from the prized Arrigoni degli Oddi collection, we decided to use graph paper as it is thinner and less invasive. Colour analysis of the upperparts of Spotted Flycatcher specimens was undertaken using an Ocean Optics USB 2000 spectrometer at ISPRA. Before proceeding with the spectrometer ana- lysis of Spotted Flycatcher plumage we had to calibrate the instrument and its associated software, Ocean Optics Spectrasuite, which is provided by the manufacturer of the spectrometer and the lamp. The spectrometer was calibrated by reading and record- ing on the software two values that were to corres- pond with white and black. In order to do so we used Ocean Optics’ WS1 Diffuse Reflectance Standard for white, while for black we placed the lighting fibreover the black square on X-Rite’s Color Checker’s colour scale. Once the programme was launched, only two parameters needed to be set. Scan-to-average was set at 5: for each colour reading of a given point, five scans are automatically made, and their average is recorded as the final value. Integration time was set at 300 in order to prevent peaks in the graph above the upper margin when the scanner was placed above the white standard; in other words, to ensure that reflectance on a white standard would not return excessively high values that would have led to a loss of information on the portion of the graph falling outside the margins. Once calibration was completed, we sampled colours on each specimen as follows: three meas- urements were taken from the mantle (usually two from the right-hand side and one from the left) and three more from the rump (by moving the scanner along a vertical line from the top to the bottom of the rump). This means that for each specimen, the data reported in the Table 2 comprises the averages of 15 measurements on the mantle and 15 on the rump. In accordance with the instructions reported by Hill & McGraw (2006) we selected and ranked the data before analyzing them: we only considered values with wavelengths between UV and red (299.74 700.28), then sub-divided them into intervals of approximately 10 nm, e.g. from 410nm to 420nm. The values we calculated (for both mantle and rump) are as follows: - Total Reflectance: the sum of all intervals - UV Component: the sum of values falling between 300nm and 400nm Figure 7. The provenience of the museum specimens analysed. Figure 8. The number of birds collected per decade. 276 Michele Vigano & Andrea Corso Museum M. striata striata M. striata tyr- rhenica MCSM 10 7 MCZR 15 6 MSNF 5 4 ISPRA 8 1 Total 38 18 Table 1 . This table summarizes the number of specimens studied, the museum they belong and their subspecific iden- tification. - UV Chroma: UV Component to Total Reflect- ance ratio - RED Component: the sum of values falling between 600nm and 700nm - RED Chroma: RED Component to Total Re- flectance ration The results are reported in the Tables 2 and 3 in the following chapter. In order to better investigate the results obtained with the colorimeter, we made subsets of the original data (Figs. 9-20): we began by removing from the sample of M. striata striata all individuals from the narrow strip of Tyrrhenian coastline in Tuscany, Latium, and Campania where M. striata tyrrhenica may be breeding; we did not remove two individuals captured on Ventotene Island (Latina) and Capri (Naple) because they matched M. striata striata in every regard and we considered them to be spring migrants of M. striata striata with a reasonable degree of certainty. A second subset was made comparing the usual sample of Sardinian specimens with a subset (n=6) of M. striata striata specimens that show particu- larly cold plumage tones on visual inspection. We also divided the sample into old “pre-1960” and recent “post- 1960” subsets, meaning that ‘recent’ specimens were no more than fifty years old, fol- lowing Annenta et al. (2008). In order to evaluate the differences in nape and breast streaking between the two subspecies, we compared the specimens visually (see, for example, Galeotti et al. 2009). After an initial evaluation of all specimens, we established categories that could represent in sufficient detail the variability present in the two taxa. We scored breast streaking on a 0 to 6 scale (0 indicating no streaking and 6 the heav- iest streaking) and nape streaking on a 0 to 5 scale. We assigned those values to each specimen; when necessary, we compared the specimen under obser- vation directly with the reference specimens. RESULTS Biometric analyses found significant differences in wing morphology. Differences in maximum wing chord were found to be statistically significant using a t-test (t = 9.4407, p = 6.079e-12), confirming our field observations of a shorted primary projection in M. striata tyrrhenica. Similar wing measurement data are reported in the literature (e.g. Cramp & Perrins, 1993; Brichetti & Fracasso, 2008). On the other hand, in a study of birds ringed between mid- April and mid-May at Capo Caccia, Sardinia (Marchetti & Baldaccini, 1995) did not report such a difference, although the authors themselves suggested that such compar- isons were better made using birds caught on their breeding grounds during the reproductive season in order to ensure correct subspecific identification. In addition to the wing chord, significant differences were found in the wing formula as well. The values calculated for each primary are summarized in figure 22, which shows wing formula for each taxon. The most significant difference concerns the relative distance between the longest primary (P3) and P2; this characteristic is also depicted in figure 2 1 , which shows the distance (in mm) between P2 and P3 in each taxon. The t-test reveals significant differences between the two subspecies concerning this character (t = -5.1674, p = 6.536e-06), as well as in the distance between P3 and P4 (t = 5.8634, p = 6.768e-07). Differences in wing shape of this type and extent are highly interesting. Similar discrepan- cies have been found between sister species in which one is a short-distance migrant and the other a long-distance migrant (Chandler & Mulvihill, 1988;Monkkonen, 1995), or where there is a gradient between more or less migratory subspecies of the same species (Arizaga et al., 2006; Winkler et al. 2010) or again in similar species where one is migratory and the other sedentary (Chandler & Mulvihill, 1990; Mila et al., 2008). Morphological differences between two subspecies of Muscicapa striata (Passeriformes Muscicapidae) 277 Figures 9-14. A value for underpart markings was given to each specimen; seven categories were determined (one central category not depicted), ranging from least marked (value 0) to boldly marked (value 6). 278 Michele Vigano & Andrea Corso Figures 15-20. A value for head streakings was given to each specimen; six categories were determined, ranging from least marked (value 0) to boldly marked (value 5). Morphological differences between two subspecies of Muscicapa striata (Passeriformes Muscicapidae) 279 This phenomenon is known as “Seebohm’s rule” and can be summed up as follows: long- distance migrants have more pointed wings (shorter inner primaries and longer outer primaries) com- pared to short-distance migrants or noil-migratory species, since longer and more pointed wings make for more powerful flight compared to shorter, more rounded wings (Seebohm, 1901; Calmaestra & Moreno, 2001). We also found differences in bill length meas- ured from the distal end of the nostrils to the tip of the bill, with p = 0.01582 and t = 2.5203, with M. striata striata showing on average a longer bill; we did not use the commonest bill measurement method, from the tip of the bill to the base of the skull, because for museum specimens it is less reliable than the parameter used in this study (Winker, 1998; Kuczynski et al., 2003). Our scores for breast and nape streaking also confimied our field observations, namely that nape and breast streaking is less well defined in Sardinian and Corsican birds. Colour analysis did not reveal any statistically significant differences except in the sum of X fall- ing between 300 and 400nm, or within the UV spectrum. These differences fade away if one con- siders the UV chroma, namely by dividing the UV value by total reflectance. In order to better under- stand the reasons for this, we carried out a number of tests by modifying the data sample used in the analysis in an attempt to remove the effect of certain parameters that may have generated background noise and muddled the results. The first subset excludes all individuals from the narrow strip of Tyrrhenian coastline where M. striata tyrrhenica may breed: using this sample, differences in mantle UV are no longer significant, but differences emerge in terms of total reflectance and the red component of the mantle, with M. striata tyrrhenica slightly redder and paler than M. striata striata, albeit with low statistical significance. However, further manipulation of the sample for colorimetric analysis, comparing M. striata tyrrhenica speci- mens with six particularly cold plumaged M. striata striata specimens did not find statistically signific- ant differences for any variable. This unexpected result, involving striata speci- mens that showed clear differences in mantle tones compared to M. striata tyrrhenica on visual inspec- tyrrhenica sffiaia rynrttenics « « ” « « « * striata Figure 21 . Chord values (in mm) recorded on Muscicapa. striata striata and M. striata tyrrhenica specimens. Figure 22. Wing formula for both subspecies; note the rounder shape of M. striata tyrrhenica birds. 280 Michele Vigano & Andrea Corso Muscicava striata striata Muscicava striata txrrhenica variable mean + sd n range mean + sd n range t P PI 13.75926 ± 1.931572 27 9.3-17.4 12.67500 ± 1.438286 16 10.2-15.1 1.9448 0.05868 P2 59.57778 ± 2.469247 27 55.0-64.4 55.33125 + 1.520841 16 52.9-57.8 6.2002 2.245e-07 P3 62.96429+ 1.914509 28 60-67 60.12500 + 1.258306 16 58-63 5.3003 3.996e-06 P4 61.64074 + 2.176670 27 58.0-66.5 60.06250 + 1.223043 16 58.0-62.5 2.6544 0.01126 P5 57.36667 ± 2.300000 27 53.8-62.2 56.26154± 1.413352 13 54.2-59.1 1.5879 0.1206 P6 50.97407± 2.695094 27 47.5-59.5 49.61250± 1.433353 16 47.4-52.4 1.8645 0.06943 P7 45.86667± 1.840568 27 42.9-50.2 45.67333± 1.258381 15 43.7-48.1 0.3616 0.7195 P8 42.66296± 1.784581 27 39.7-46.6 42.35625± 1.175284 16 40.2-44.9 0.6118 0.544 P9 39.69259± 1.836369 27 36.9-43.8 39.73125± 1.151068 16 36.9-43.8 - 0.0757 0.9401 P10 36.84074± 1.727662 27 34.3-40.9 37.56000± 1.136913 15 35.2-40.4 -1.444 0.1565 chord 86.14286+ 1.603567 28 83-90 81.50000 + 1.505545 16 79-84 9.4407 6.079e-12 bill L 8.392593+ 0.2758566 27 8.0-8.9 8.140000 + 0.3680062 15 7.2-8.6 2.5203 0.01582 bill W 3.496429± 0.1990387 28 3. 1-3.9 3.420000± 0.1373213 15 3.2-3. 7 1.3244 0.1927 billT 4.357143± 0.2379365 28 3. 6-4.8 4.353333± 0.3888934 15 3.6-5. 1 0.0399 0.9683 breast 4.096774+ 0.7897189 31 3-6 1.466667 + 0.9904304 15 0-3 9.7384 1.504e-12 head 3.586207+ 0.7327659 30 2-5 1.333333 + 0.8164966 15 0-3 9.2998 9.361e-12 f R tot refl 385.2981± 74.04245 36 263.55- 603.68 397.1140± 55.03810 15 316.97- 486.38 -0.556 0.5807 f R UV 59.08778± 15.51324 36 36.00-99.42 61.77267± 13.38254 15 41.97-85.83 -0.5849 0.5613 f R CROM A UV 0.151982± 0.0151761 36 0.11943- 0.18782 0.154283± 0.0155461 15 0.1324- 0.1910 -0.49 0.6263 f R RED 141.8281± 22.45401 36 100.9-200.3 148.8973± 20.66444 15 114.11- 181.89 -1.0476 0.3 fRCHRO MA RED 0.370492± 0.0201814 36 0.331798- 0.41221 0.375287± 0.0162703 15 0.35564- 0.4098 -0.815 0.419 f M tot refl 303.9143± 33.40160 36 236.78- 344.78 329.1888± 40.71543 16 290.13- 405.80 -1.5784 0.1302 f_M_UV 44.53722+ 6.774240 36 31.52-57.73 49.10250+ 7.547965 16 39.27-65.49 -2.1659 0.03512 f M CHRO MA UV 0.144340± 0.0137475 36 0.11600- 0.171272 0.147015± 0.0119409 16 0.13113- 0.1696 -0.6728 0.5042 f M RED 112.1264± 9.672242 36 92.18- 126.12 120.3400±11 .764493 16 108.76- 141.91 -1.773 0.09145 f M CHRO MA RED 0.376839± 0.0175326 36 0.338173- 0.40683 0.375442± 0.0206807 16 0.34161- 0.4047 0.2508 0.803 Table 2. All the statistical results from our study are here summarized; the variables highlighted in boldface are those for which the t-test found values <0.05. Morphological differences between two subspecies of Muscicapa striata (Passeriformes Muscicapidae) 281 Muscicapa striata striata Muscicava striata txrrhenica variable mean + sd n range mean + sd n range t P M tot refl 309.2468 ± 2 236.78-365.09 329.1888 ± 16 290.13-405.80 -2.2777 0.0279 31.11327 9 40.71543 45.6875 ± 2 49.10250 ± M UV 35.20-56.61 16 39.27-65.49 -1.6468 0.1071 6.037829 9 7.547965 M CHROMA 0. 1476630 ± 2 0.123644- 0.147015 ± 16 0.13113- 0.179 0.8588 UV 0.0113407 9 0.171272 0.0119409 0.1696 115.6518 ± 2 120.3400 ± M RED 92.18-126.12 16 108.76-141.91 -2.5046 0.01623 10.24447 9 11.764493 M CHROMA 0.3748562 ± 2 0.338173- 0.375442 ± 16 0.34161- -0.0983 0.9222 RED 0.0180199 9 0.399920 0.0206807 0.4047 R tot refl 388.8814 ± 2 263.55-603.68 397.1140 ± 15 316.97-486.38 -0.3589 0.7215 78.95214 9 55.03810 R UV 60.81893 ± 2 36.00-99.42 61.77267 ± 15 41.97-85.83 -0.1947 0.8466 16.22125 9 13.38254 R CHROMA 0.1549453 ± 2 0.121704- 0.154283 ± 15 0.1324-0.1910 0.1413 0.8884 UV 0.0141347 9 0.187822 0.0155461 141.9193 ± 2 148.8973 ± R RED 100.9-200.3 15 114.11-181.89 -0.9519 0.3468 23.99409 9 20.66444 R CHROMA 0.3674105 ± 2 0.331798- 0.375287 ± 15 0.35564- -1.3203 0.1941 RED 0.0197631 9 0.408994 0.0162703 0.4098 Table 3. Same colorimetric variables analyzed in the previous table, but with a different subset of data: birds collected from the narrow strip of Tyrrhenian coastline in Tuscany, Latium, and Campania, where M. striata tyrrhenica could occur, were removed. tion, suggests that the method we used for our colorimetric analysis is not ideal for detecting such subtle differences in plumage pigmentation. Additional comparisons looked at the effects of time on the state of preservation of specimen. In accordance with other works that tested colour deterioration in museum specimens (Armenta et al., 2008; Doucet & Hill, 2009), we found highly significant differences between old (pre-1960) and recent (post- 1960) specimens. We used this data to build a linear model to identify the variables that most affected colour variation. As expected, taxon did not have a stat- istically significant effect, while year of collection did (F(1.46) = 7, P = 8.408e-05). In other words, specimens that were more than fifty years old showed a statistically-significant higher total re- flectance, and thus appeared paler. The biometric and colorimetric data collected in this study is summarized in Table 2, which also indicates sample size (n), the minimum and max- imum values recorded (range) and the t and p va- lues for the t-test as applied to each variable for the two taxa. The variables highlighted in boldface are those for which the t-test found values <0.05, mean- ing that the differences between the two taxa for 282 Michele Vigano & Andrea Corso the variable in question were statistically signific- ant. The variables “PI” to “P10” indicate primary length from the outermost to the innermost; “chord” indicates the length of the maximum wing chord, namely the closed wing measured from the carpal joint; “bill L, H, and T” respectively indicate bill length, height, and thickness; “breast” and “head” indicate the amount of streaking in these two areas scored after a visual examination. Colorimetric data follows: variables initialed with an M refer to the mantle, and those with an R to the rump; tot_refl refers to total reflectance, UV and RED respectively refer to the sum of X falling between 300 and 400 and between 600 and 700; UV CHROMA and REDCHROMA indicate the ratio between these two variables and total reflec- tance. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS The objective of this study was to test the dif- ferences observed in the field between the M. striata striata and M. striata tyrrhenica subspecies of Spotted Flycatcher as objectively as possible, by using methods that would not be influenced by dif- ferences in perception of colour and proportions on the part of different observers. The results con- firmed the morphological differences observed in the field and cited in the literature, and the different intensity and extent of streaking on the underparts and the nape. Nevertheless, to better assess these parameters a larger sample, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, would be preferable, and would ideally include a larger number of birds captured on their breeding grounds. Differences in wing-shape are important not only from an identification per- ceptive, but also in light of the relationship between wing morphology and migratoiy distance (Baldwin et al., 2010; Monkkonen, 1995). The shorter, more rounded wings of M. striata tyrrhenica suggest that birds breeding in Corsica and Sardinia may have a shorter migration com- pared to birds from continental Italy and Europe. This is all the more interesting given that there is no solid data in the literature on the non-breeding range of M. striata tyrrhenica (Cramp & Perrins, 1993; del Hoyo et al., 2006), that should anyway be sub-saharan, given the absence of evidence of winter sightings north of the Sahara.On the other hand, our colorimetric analyses failed to confirm the differences observed in the field and reported in the literature. To conclude, biometric measurements and an analysis of plumage streaking confirmed the presence of some important differences between the two taxa, including characters that can be seen in the field, while the colorimetric analysis did not produce the expected results, although it had some interesting implications concerning the preservation of museum specimens and their use in studies of plumage colour. There are several other instances of taxa that have similar distributions to M. striata tyrrhenica Spotted Flycatchers and are morphologically very similar to the taxa breeding elsewhere in Italy and Europe being recognized as full species after in-depth analyses of morphology, voice, ecology and DNA: examples include Corsican Finch ( Carduelis corsicana ) (Cramp & Perrins, 1993; Sangster, 2000; Forschler & Kalko, 2007, Forschler et al. 2009) and Moltoni’s Warbler ( Sylvia sub- alpina ) (Brambilla et al., 2008), both recently re- cognized as full species; further research on M. striata tyrrhenica Spotted Flycatcher is needed. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to thank Professor Giuseppe Bogliani (Pavia, Italy) for his advice and his constant support throughout this study. We also thank Giorgio Chiozzi of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale of Milan (Italy), Carla Marangoni and Maurizio Gattabria of the Museo Civico di Zoologia of Rome (Italy), the staff of the Museo di Storia Naturale of Forli (Italy), and Lorenzo Serra, Simone Pirrello and Adriano de Faveri of the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, ISPRA (Italy); without their help this study would not have been possible. For their help fulsuggestions and advice we thank Giacomo Assandri (Turin, Italy), Mattia Brambilla (Milan, Italy), Monica Clerici (Milan, Italy), Andrea Galimberti (Milan, Italy), Ottavio Janni (Naples, Italy), Igor Maiorano (Trieste, Italy), Violetta Longoni (Milan, Italy), Diego Rubolini (Milan, Italy), and Roberto Sacchi (Pavia, Italy). We are very grateful to Ottavio Janni (Naples, Italy) who translated this paper from Italian to English. 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Jansen 4 'Via Camastra 10, 96100 Siracusa, Sicily, Italy; e-mail: zoologywp@gmail.com 2 Via Cavour 71, 06019 Umbertide, Perugia, Italy; e-mail: lorenzo.stamini@gmail.com 3 Via Ongetta 5, 21010 Germignaga, Varese, Italy; e-mail: mikivigano@yahoo.com 4 c/o Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR Leiden, the Netherlands; e-mail: justin.jansen@naturalis.nl "■Corresponding author ABSTRACT Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni Fleischer, 1818 (Falconiformes Falconidae) is considered a monotypic species. F. naumanni pekinensis Swinhoe, 1870 was described from Beijing, China. Although considered valid for most of the 20th century, some authors treated F. naumanni pekinensis as a synonym of F naumanni naumanni, and subsequent authors have since regarded “ pekinensis ” as an invalid taxon. Recent field observations in Asia and Europe and museum studies have confirmed diagnosable differences in (fresh) adult males. Comparing morphology between nominate “ naumanni ” and “ pekinensis ”, with the latter invariably showing more extensive grey on the wing coverts and darker and more saturated colours on both the under- parts and upperparts, with all grey areas, including the hood, being a darker, deeper lead-grey. Females often have more extensive dark markings and a better-defined dark eye-line but apparently are indistinguishable in most cases. This study aims to re-evaluate F. naumanni pekinensis and to discuss geographic variation in the subspecies in a widely distributed raptor. KEY WORDS Lesser Kestrel; pekinensis', naumanni', subspecies; geographical variation. Received 25.05.2014; accepted 30.06.2014; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6th- 1 8th 20 1 4, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION Today, Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni Flei- scher, 1818 (Falconiformes Falconidae) is conside- red a monotypic species (cf. Cramp & Simmons, 1980; Snow & Perrins, 1998; Forsman, 1999; Clark, 1999; Corso, 2000, 2001a; Ferguson-Lees & Christie, 2001). After a few years, was described F. chenchris pekinensis Swinhoe, 1870 from two birds (adult male and immature male) (cf. Swinhoe, 1870; Dresser, 1871-1881). Currently, F. naumanni pekinensis is regarded as a synonym of F. naumanni naumanni (cf. Vaurie, 1965; Dickinson & van Remsen, 2013). In September-October 2003, two authors (AC, JJ) were at Chokpak Ornithological Station, Jambyl Province, Kazakhstan together with Wim Nap and Arend Wassink, studying raptors and other birds in collaboration with Andrei and Edward Gavrilov as Vladimir Kolbinsev. AC was intrigued by the up- perwing pattern of several adult male Lesser Ke- strels that were caught in the large Heligoland-traps onsite (and subsequently ringed) as in birds obser- ved in the field. They appeared consistently diffe- rent from birds AC observed within the Western Palaearctic. The past twelve years, in addition to our field studies of Lesser Kestrel, we have studied 286 Andrea Corso et alii skins from museums worldwide and photos from throughout their breeding range. We have found that eastern populations, especially the well-isolated breeding grounds in China, are phenotypically stri- kingly different from western populations. This suggests that F. naumanni pekinensis may be a well identifiable taxon, although it’s breeding and win- tering distribution remains to be fully elucidated. This paper reports the preliminary results of our stu- dies concerning western and eastern populations, with a focus on the latter, particularly “ pekinensis ”. In this paper we describe plumage colour and pat- tern, in special fresh adult males, of both Western (. F. naumanni naumanni ) and Eastern Lesser Kestrel (Chinese Lesser Kestrel F. naumanni pekinensis and intermediate populations). Their field identification and plumage variability will be discussed separately (Corso et al., personal data). MATERIAL AND METHODS In this study we investigated in detail adult birds in the field within the borders of the Western Pala- earctic, and to a more limited extent in Asia. Bet- ween 2003 and 2014, we studied birds from Africa (Egypt, Eritrea, Kenya, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Tunisia), Asia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Burma, China, Georgia, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Laos, Mongolia, Russia, Oman, Turkey, Turkmeni- stan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen) and Europe (France, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy) in field, museum or photographs. During fall 2003, AC and JJ studied tens of Lesser Kestrels in the hand during ringing operations in Kazakhstan as in the field (up to 1 .000 birds were observed during their stay). Particular attention was given to the adult males and to a lesser extent to adult females. Juveniles were not studied in much detail. The skins we studied are held in the following museums and bird collections: American Museum of Natural History, New York, U.S.A. (AMNH); Institute of Zoology, Almaty, Kazakhstan (IZA); Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali “Angelo Priolo”, Randazzo, Italy (MCR); Museo Civico di Storia Naturale of Milan, Italy (MCSM); Museo Civico of Terrasini, Italy (MCT); Museo Civico dell’Univer- sita di Scienze Naturali of Catania, Italy (MCUCT); Museo Civico di Zoologia of Rome, Italy (MCZR); Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (MNHN); Museo Regionale di Scienze Na- turali of Turin, Italy (MRSN); Museo di Storia Na- turale “Giacomo Doria”, Genoa, Italy (MSNGD); Museo di Storia Naturale “La Specola”, Florence, Italy (MSNLS); National Zoological Museum of China, Beijing, China (NZMC); Naturalis Biodiver- sity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands (NBC); Natural History Museum, Tring, England (NHM); Naturhi- storisches Museum Wien, Vienna, Austria (NMW); Peabody Yale Museum of Natural History, New Haven, U.S.A. (PMNH); Museo Civico di Storia- Naturale di Carmagnola, Italy (SNCa); Museum fur Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany (ZMB) and in thir- teen private collections. Other abbreviations: AC: Andrea Corso; JJ: Ju- stin J.F.J. Jansen; MV: Michele Vigano. The list of the specimens (both skins and moun- ted) examined from the museums and private col- lections were, after objective examination, divided into four groups (Figs. 1, 2): Group A: Falco naumanni pekinensis : one of two syntypes of the subspecies (Figs. 8, 9); 20 adult males and 8 adult females (China). For Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 we used only fresh breeding plumage males from China (N=13). Group B: Falco naumanni ssp.: 28 adult males, 25 females (age combined) (Asia: Mongolia, Altai Mountains breeding area as well as Burma, India and Laos wintering area). For Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 we used only fresh breeding plumages males from Mongolia (N=13). Group C: Falco naumanni ssp.: 87 adult males; 60 (age combined) females (Asia: Arabian Penin- sula (unspecified countries), Afghanistan, Azerbai- jan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan; Africa: Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania). For Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 we used only fresh breeding plu- mage males from Kazakhstan (N=9), Turkmenistan (N=6), Azerbaijan (N=7) and Afghanistan (N=4). Group D: Falco naumanni naumanni : 349 adult males; 172 (age combined) females (Europe: Alba- nia, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Italy, Mace- donia, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain; Africa: Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Mauri- tania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, Tan- zania, Tunisia; Asia: Annenia, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Turkey). For Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 we used only fresh breeding plumage males from Turkey (N=5), Greece (N=12), Albania (N=5), France (N=5) and Spain (N=29). A quantitative morphological geographical study from a widely distributed raptor: the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni 287 Figure 1. Plumage types as indicated in the text: upper 2 birds (group D), ssp. naumanni, among this group, left bird is an example with least grey extension on upperwing coverts and tertials, and on the right typical nominate naumanni. Note the grey extension on wing, plumage colour saturation and bare parts colour. Central bird, intermediate bird, plumage group B and C in the text. Lower 2 birds, classic “ pekinensis ”, plumage group A, from China breeding populations and allegedly from India, Laos and Burma during winter and on passage. The slight variation found is shown (artwork by Lorenzo Stamini). Note on pekinensis that the plumage colour, chiefly mantle and grey tones, is darker, more saturated than nominate naumanni, and that the upperwing coverts are entirely grey as well as the bare parts are more orange-ochre. 288 Andrea Corso et alii Additionally, to test the reliability of plumage colour and pattern in discriminating between popu- lations, we took four photographs of each Lesser Kestrel skin. We sampled: upperside, underside and lateral sides (in order to check if there were diffe- rences between upperwing pattern of both wings) (Figs. 10-19). We only used indirect sunlight. All specimens were photographed with the same ca- mera at a fixed distance, with a Kodak Gray Scale (Kodak, 2007) in the background (a standard scale of grey values ranging from 0, white to 19, jet black) (Fig. 7). This is an objective way of measu- ring the grey colours in bird plumages (cf. Adriaens et al., 2010; Bot & Jansen, 2013). The grey card in the background enabled us to calibrate the colours in the photograph, using Adobe Photoshop 10.0.1. We used brightness as a measure to assess the grey and red parts in adult males. To quantify the bri- ghtness of the red parts we measured its median spectral reflectance of red, green and blue (RGB) by using Photoshop. To assess the amount of grey and red on the head and upperparts, we measured the saturation. This was calculated by using the for- mula: saturation = 1 00 x ((MAX-MIN) / MAX), where MAX and MIN are the maximum and mini- mum of the median RGB values as measured by Photoshop. A low saturation value corresponds to much grey in the head and upperparts and vice versa. Forthe analysis of colours we used the plates in Ridgway (1912: plate II and III). In particular, we compared the following: 1 . Grey value of rump and tail; 2. Grey value of head (hood); 3. Percentage of grey coloured upperwing coverts. To sample the upperwing coverts, we measured the percentage of grey coloured coverts (versus rus- set-brown coverts), therefore, how many coverts (median MC+ greater GC+ lesser LC) were grey. On skins, we considered the coverts visible on clo- sed wing by using Photoshop to calculate the per- centages. All statistical analysis was performed using R version 2.15.1 (R Development Core Team 2013). Numerical variables (Grey hood and % of grey UPW covers) were tested for normality using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Tests were significant which indicates that these variables do not come from a normally distributed population. Therefore we used a non-parametric approach (Kruskall- Wallis test) to test for a significant difference between groups for these 2 variables. To test for differences between groups in the other 2 variables (colour_of_upper- parts and deep_intensity_of_underparts) we used generalized linear models (GLM). Regarding the specimens and photos of adult fe- males under investigation, we focused on the bol- dness, width and distribution/demarcation of the dark markings on the head, underwing, tail, mantle and breast. We arbitrary divided specimens on the basis of the extent and boldness of these marking without looking at the label (no geographical pre- indication), and subsequently checked if these fea- tures were related to the classified groups (Fig. 2). After that, we assigned a numerical code to the pre- sence, definition and boldness of the dark markings on the face: 1 . no dark eye-line and weak moustache mark; 2. weak eye-line and bolder moustache; 3. obvious and bold dark eye-line as well as moustache. The Falco naumanni pekinensis syntypes Swinhoe (1870: 442) described “ pekinensis ” using an adult male collected on Septemberl8th 1868 at the hills overlooking the Ming Tombs (40° 25’ 05” N, 116° 22’ 41” E) (42 kilometres north- northwest of Beijing) (Figs. 8, 9) and an juvenile male collected at the Western Hills (roughly in Miyun County about 93 kilometres northeast of Beijing (indicative 40°31’40.8”N, 116°48’02.5”E) between 10-12 August 1868 (Swinhoe, 1870: 436). Specimens from Swinhoe became spread, and the syntype now present in NHM, arrived as part of a load of 480 Accipitres and Striges in three loads in 1886 (Sharpe 1906) donated by Henry Seebohm. Amongst these specimens is the adult male, now la- belled as BMNH. 1886.3.25.272, and regarded as syntype (Warren 1966: 222). This specimen has been collected according to Warren (1966) and it is labelled as collected on October 18th (sic!) 1868. Henry E. Dresser noted that both specimens in his ‘A history of the birds of Europe' (1871-82, VI: 135) were still in Swinhoe’s private collection, and col- lected in August and September 1868 near Beijing. A request at electronic Bulletin for European Avian Curators (EBEAC - September 2014) and re- quests elsewhere did not help in locating the imma- ture male. By chance, a juvenile and adult Amur Falcon Falco amurensis Radde, 1863 were collec- ted near Beijing by Swinhoe in August 1868 (Tri- A quantitative morphological geographical study from a widely distributed raptor: the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni 289 stram Collection Liverpool T2824 (Tristram, 1889: 67) was reported (Clem Fisher in litteris). Their plu- mage is notably different, but strangely enough not reported by Swinhoe (1870). Description: Swinhoe described the types rather briefly: “ Large numbers of Kestrels were flying and hovering about. Their movement struck me as pe- culiar; and on shooting a male we found the species to be a race of Falco cenchris, Naumann. We pro- cured on this occasion an adult male, and in the We- stern Hills a young male. They agree in size and form with Falco cenchris of Europe; but the adult male has all the wing-coverts grey right up to the scapulars, most of them narrowly edged with ru- fous. The adult has the inner or short primaries broadly bordered at their tips with whitish, rufous in the immature, and wanting in the European bird. Both adult and immature have the white on the under quills 3 V 4 inches short of their tips; in the European bird it advances one inch nearer the tips. I will note this Eastern race as var. pekinensis. It will probably be the bird that winters in India.” RESULTS We sampled 108 fresh adult males from the breeding ranges for this analysis. We sampled the percentage of grey upperwing coverts, grey value in the hood as for the colouration of the colour of Falco naumanni naumanni Group D Falco naumanni ssp Group C and B Fako naumanni pekinensis Group A Group D — ? Group A (and B?) ^5 Group C and B Figure 2. World distribution (breeding range - red, wintering area - green) of the two subspecies discussed in this paper (plumage group A and D), and of intermediate populations and pekinensis-type birds (B/C) as found during this study and according to past literature. Delimitation of the range is roughly indicated and should be considered as solely indicative. 290 Andrea Corso et alii the upperparts and intensity of underparts. The pro- portion of Group A is 12 %, group B 12 %, group C 24 % and for group D 52 %. Although the pro- portion of group D is well out of proportion we think the number is sufficiently large to allow good comparison as shown in the results. The results of testing four characters among the four defined areas is summarized in Fig. 2 and also outlined below. Group A. The adult males collected in China (N=13) show a mean of 1 1 .46 (min. 10; max. 12) on the Kodak Grey Scale (Kodak, 2007) in hood colou- ration (Figs. 3.7). For grey in the upperwing coverts the mean is 93.5 % (min. 85; max. 99) of grey (Figs. 4, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16). The intensity of underparts is 100 % Mikado-orange mars yellow (Fig. 5). The colouration in upperparts varies slightly as show in Fig. 6, but the mean colouration was Burnt Sienna (8 out of 13 birds). Breeding adult females: 62.5% of the specimens from China (N=8) showed a well- defined dark eye-line (code 3). The remaining (N=3) showed a weaker marking (code 2). Flowever, juve- niles of both “ pekinensis ” and “ nanmanni show a bolder and better-marked moustache and eye-line, compared to adult female, making any relevant use in the field to identify “ pekinensis ” from “ nau - manni ” of these characters extremely hard. Concer- ning the underwing pattern, the outer primaries (wing-tip) as well as the trailing edge of the wing (inner primaries and secondaries) are more extensi- vely and conspicuously dark in all Chinese females than in adult female “naumanni” in group D. Also, although rather variable, on average the black bar- like marks on the mantle were wider and more con- spicuous than in typical adult female “naumanni ” . Birds from photographs shown a higher amount of variability, with several individuals lacking dark eye-line thus being almost identical to European fe- males but a little darker and more patterned. As for adult male, also in adult female, the cere and the bare skin of the eye-ring, is brighter, deeper coloured and more orange-ochreous than in adult female “ nau - mannF. Group B. The adult males collected in Mongolia (N=13) shows a mean of 8.8 (min. 7; max. 10)on the Kodak Grey Scale (Kodak, 2007) in hood co- louration (Fig. 3, 7). For the wing coverts the mean is 71.9 % (min. 50 %; max. 90 %) of grey (Fig. 4) (Kodak, 2007). The intensity of underparts is mixed, as 7 birds are mikado-orange-mars-yellow and 6 are orange -buff (Fig. 5). The colouration in upperparts is mixed, as seen in Fig. 6. Group C. The adult males collected in Kaza- khstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan (N=26) show a mean of 8.07 (min. 7; max. 10) on the Kodak Grey Scale in hood colouration (Fig. 3, 9) (Kodak, 2007). For the wing coverts the mean is 56.5 % (min. 40 %; max. 86 %) of grey (Fig. 4). The intensity of underparts is mainly orange-buff (20 out of 26) (Fig. 5). The colouration in upper- parts varies as shown in Fig. 6. Group D. The adult males collected Turkey, Greece, Albania, France and Spain (N=56) show a mean of 7. 14 (min. 6; max. 1 0) on the Kodak Grey Scale in hood colouration (Figs. 3, 7) (Kodak, 2007). For the wing coverts the mean is 30.2 % (min. 15; max. 45) of grey (Figs. 1,4, 17). Notable is the differentiation in western and eastern birds of the distribution are of this population. As we found a certain variability on the extension of the grey co- loured upperwing coverts. Some as typical birds as shown in every field guide and handbooks as well as birds showing almost no grey on coverts or only some tinged grey (Figs. 1, 17) in the western part of the distribution area. The intensity of underparts is mostly buff-yellow or capucine-yellow (46 out of 56) (Fig. 5). The colouration in upperparts varies as shown in Fig. 6. For what concern the female, only 5% of adult females showed a dark eye-line (code 3) (higher percentage when looking at juvenile; Corso, 2000, 2001a; AC pers. obs.). Dark markings on the mantle were on average narrower and less striking than in the most marked adult female pekinensis. However, we failed to find relevant differences. In juvenile naumanni we found them being darker and with bolder/wider dark markings than adult females, ad- ding to the difficulty to the separate them. Bare parts were less orange and paler, andalways yello- wer than “ pekinensis ”. DISCUSSION The four groups (adult males in fresh plumage) were significantly different when considering the features: hood and % of grey UPW covers (Kru- skall- Wallis test) (Table 1). This can be seen in Figs. 3, 4. These figures report averages and standard er- rors (SE) for each group. The four groups were also significantly different when considering the other two variables (Table 2). Figures 5 and 6 represent A quantitative morphological geographical study from a widely distributed raptor: the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni 291 Plot of Means Plot of Means Figure 3. This figure represent averages and standard errors (SE) for the four groups in grey colouration in Lesser Ke- strel hood. Fig. 4. This figure represent averages and standard errors (SE) for the four groups in the % of grey coloured in Lesser Kestrel upperwing coverts. Fig. 5. Represent the % within the group of the considered colouration of the upper- parts within each variable. Fig. 6: repre- sent the % within the group of the considered intensity of colouration in the underparts within each variable. Fig. 7. Kodak Grey Scale value of the hood in fresh adult male Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni showing the range encounte- red in the specimens studied: range 10- 12 in “ pekinensis ” (mean 11.46); range 6-10 in nominate “ naumanni ” (mean 7.14). In fact, grey hue and intensity is on average deeper and darker in Chinese Lesser Kestrel compared to Western Les- ser Kestrel. 292 Andrea Corso et alii Figure 8. Falco naumanni pekinensis, adult male Reg. no. BMNH. 1886.3.25.272. Near Ming Tombs, north of Peking, 18.X. 1868, syntype, R. Swinhoe leg. (H. van Grouw, NHM, Tring). No illustration in any modern field guide is available of such a plumage, with no description or illustration reporting these characters. Fig. 9. F. naumanni pekinensis, same bird as plate 5 (H.van Grouw, NF1M, Tring). Note the very richly coloured underparts, much richer than any nominate “naumanni” . Fig. 10. F. naumanni pekinensis, adult male, Hebei, China, 27.IV. 1937 (He Peng, NZMC). A fresh adult male “ pekinensis ” from the typical breeding range of the taxon, showing very intense brick-red (Burnt Sienna) mantle and sooty-led grey plumage areas. Fig. 11. A naumanni pekinensis, adult male, Hebei, China, 27. IV. 1937 (He Peng, NZMC). Same bird of Figs. 10, 12. Note that the entire upperwing coverts are typically solidly dark sooty led-grey, as never shown by any nominate “naumanni”. Fig. 12. F. naumanni pekinensis, adult male from Hebei, China, 27. IV. 1937 (He Peng, NZMC). Same bird of Figs. 10, 11 Note the very richly coloured underparts, more saturated and extensively coloured than in typical nominate “naumanni ” . A quantitative morphological geographical study from a widely distributed raptor: the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni 293 Figure 13. Falco naumanni pekinensis, adult male, Bejing, China, 4.IV.1961 (He Peng, NZMC). Note the typically entirely grey upperwing coverts of this male from the terra typica of the pekinensis taxon. Fig. 14. F. naumanni pekinensis, adult male, Bejing, China, 4.1V. 1961 (He Peng, NZMC). Same bird of Fig. 15. Note intensely coloured underparts, with very saturated colour. Fig. 15. Falco naumanni pekinensis, adult male, Hebei, China, 8. X. 1965 (He Peng, NZMC). Note that the entire upperwing coverts are typically solidly dark sooty led-grey, as never shown by any nominate naumanni. Fig. 16. F. naumanni pekinensis, adult male, Hebei, China, 27.IV. 1937 (He Peng, NZMC). Same bird of Figs. 10,12 to show a close up view of the upperwing coverts pattern. Compare to Fig. 17. Fig. 17. F. naumanni pekinensis, ad. male, Spain (A. Corso, NHM, Tring). Plumage type D according to description given in the text. Note that in many European birds (ca.20%) the grey on wing coverts is very limited and pretty hard to be seen in the field or even in the hands. Note that the plumage is paler, less intense and less deep in both the grey of hood and wing-coverts and of the mantle and underparts. 294 Andrea Corso et alii the percentage within group of the considered cate- gory within each variable. The analyses showed that the groups are significantly different. The largest difference was found between group A and D (Ta- bles 1, 2). These groups, possibly, connect in winter/mi- gration areas, but more study is necessary. Also the wintering areas for the individual groups are un- known, but in Fig. 2 we displayed the supposed wintering areas. The differences between group A and D is large and both phenotypes differ 86.2% taken into account the four sampled morphological features. We did not investigate whether there are genetic differences among “ naumanni ” and “ peki - nensis ”, something that surely should be the target of future studies. The mean differences between other groups are A vs. B 49 %, A vs. C 75 %, B vs. C 14.7%, B vs. D 67.8% and C vs. D 39.3 %. According to the criteria to show discrete cha- racter differences (Rolan- Alvarez & Rolan, 1995; Corbet, 1997; Johnson et al., 1999; Garnett & Chri- stidis, 2007; Rising, 2007; Winker et al., 2007; Ci- cero, 2010; Remsen, 2010) 86.2 % fall well in the criteria set by Amadon (1949), Simpson & Roe (1939) and Mayr (1969) (George Sangster in litte- ris). We advise that the Chinese population known under the synonym “ pekinensis ” should be conside- red valid, despite the apparent intermediate zone bet- ween this and nominate “ naumanni ” . For the Lesser Kestrel the same applies as for other polytypic spe- cies of raptor with a wide breeding distribution area that it has a certain amount of clinal variation (Fer- guson-Lees & Christie, 2001). Examples are Com- mon Buzzard Buteo buteo ssp., Black Kite Milvus migrans ssp., Saker Falco cherrug and Peregrine Falco peregrinus ssp. (Vaurie, 1961; Ellis & Garat, 1983; Brosset, 1986; Dixon et al., 2012; White et al., 2013). The distributional areas are often poorly de- fined and a large variability applies in subspecies (Dementiev, 1957; Corso, 2001b; Eastham et al., 2001; Brichetti & Fracasso, 2003; Eastham & Ni- cholls, 2005; Karyakin & Pfeffer, 2009; Pfeffer, 2009; Zuberogoitia et al., 2009; Karyakin, 2011; Ro- driguez et al., 2011). To meet the criteria as set by Amadon (1949), Simpson & Roe (1939) and Mayr (1969) most currently recognised subspecies fall short when assessed on the overlap between pheno- types. To simplify, we are faced with two choices: 1) we consider the currently recognized subspecies of Variable Chi squared df Pr(>Chi Kodakhood 53,62 3 <0.01*** percentageofgreyUP Wcoverts 89,2 3 <0.01*** Table 1 . Showing the Kruskall-Wallis test at all four groups, considering hood and % of grey upperwing coverts. Variable Chi squared df Pr(>Chi colourofupperparts 30,73 3 <0.01*** deep_intensity_of_ underparts 94,79 3 <0.01*** Table 2. Showing GLM test, on the colouration of upperparts and the intensity of underparts. a forementioned raptor species and other wide- ranging raptors as representatives of clinal variation only. And therefore unworthy of taxonomic rank, in which case we would not consider “ pekinensis ” as a valid taxon in light of the intermediate birds found; 2) we believe all these taxa, including “pekinensis ” , to be worthy of taxonomic rank. In any case, as the Chinese population of Lesser Kestrel is always iden- tifiable, and geographically isolated. It is therefore worthy of taxonomic rank, which will also help focus attention on its conservation (Patten, 2015). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For this research, we relied heavily on speci- mens preserved in public museums, and in thirteen private collections, either by visiting them or on loan. Our sincere gratitude goes to (in no specific order): Mark Adams, Hein and Katrina van Grouw, Robert Prys-Jones (NHM); He Peng (NZMC); An- drei Gravilov (IZA); Anita Gamauf (NMW); Ste- ven van der Mije (NBC); Patrick Bousses, Anne Previato (MNHN); Giorgio Chiozzi (MCSM); the late Vittorio Emanuele Orlando (MCT); Rosario Grasso (MCUCT); Carla Marangoni (MCZR); Claudio Pulcher (MRSN); Enrico Borgo (MSNG); Marta Poggesi and FaustoBarbagli (MSNF); Gio- vanni Boano (SNCa); the late Angelo Priolo (MCR); Paul Sweet, Mary Le Croy, Matthew Shanley, Tomas Trombone (AMNH), Kristof Zy- A quantitative morphological geographical study from a widely distributed raptor: the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni 295 skowski (PMNH), SylkeFrahnert (ZMB). Henry McGhie (The Manchester Museum, Manchester, England) and Clem Fisher (Liverpool Museum, Li- verpool, England) supplied additional information. For help with photos and discussions we are grate- ful to: Mark Andrews, Aurelien Audevard, Arnoud B. van den Berg, Claudio Carere, Wouter Faveyts, Peter Kennerly, Fumin Lei, Zhi-Yun Jia, Jonathan Martinez, Gerald Oreel, Ran Schols, Manuel Schweizer, Xuky Summer, Terry Townshend, Pirn Wolf and Arend Wassink. JJ is grateful to the ‘Sti- chting P.A. Hens Memorial Fund’ for funding his ZMB visit. AC and MV are indebted to Ottavio Janni who was pleasant company in the field (as part of the MISC group) as in museum studiesand also improved the final manuscript. Finally we thank Francesco Angeloni for his help with the sta- tistics and reading the final manuscript. George Sangster supplied us with information on taxono- mic difficulties. REFERENCES Adriaens R, Bosnian D. & Elst J., 2010. White Wagtail and Pied Wagtail: a new look. Dutch Birding, 32: 229-250. Amadon D., 1949. The seventy-five per cent rule for sub- species. Condor, 51: 250-258. Bot S. & Jansen J.J.F.J., 2013. 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Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, 379 pp. Zuberogoitia I., AzkonaA., Zabala J., Astorkia L., Ca- stillo I., Iraeta A., Martinez J. A. & Martinez J.E., 2009. Phenotypic variations of Peregrine Falcon in subspecies distribution border. In Sielicki J. & Mizera T. (Eds.), Peregrine Falcon populations - status and perspectives in the 21st century. European Peregrine Falcon Working Group & Society for the Protection of Wild Animals, Warsaw, 295-308. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 297-304 Monograph Current knowledge on the Sicilian tardigrade fauna Oscar Lisi Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Section of Animal Biology, University of Catania, Via Androne 81, 95124 Catania, Italy; e-mail: olisi@unict.it ABSTRACT Based on the literature, and adding personal contribution, the author takes stock of the know- ledge about the species of limno-terrestrial tardigrades present in Sicily and the main small islands around it (Aeolian Islands, Ustica, Egadi Islands). In total 111 species are reported: 108 from Sicily (main island), 35 from the Aeolian Islands, 17 from Ustica and 11 from the Egadi Islands. Two species are new records only for the respective islands, 13 are new records for the whole studied area, four of which are new also for the Italian fauna. A good 1 3 species (11.7%) are at present endemic for the studied area. The zoogeographic spread of the 111 Sicilian tardigrade species confirms the modern ideas about tardigrade zoogeography. KEY WORDS Tardigrada; Sicilian fauna; zoogeography; taxonomy. Received 25.10.2014; accepted 07.01.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6th- 1 8th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION In the Surveys on the Sicilian tardigrade fauna (Ustica, Aeolian and Aegadean archipelagos in- cluded) until 2009 allowed to recognize 94 terrestrial and freshwater species (Arcidiacono, 1962; 1964, Binda, 1969; 1978; Binda & Pilato, 1969a,b, 1971, 1972, 1984, 1985, 1987; Binda et al., 1980; Pilato, 1969, 1971a, b,c, 1973, 1974, 2009; Pilato & Catan- zaro, 1988, 1989; Pilato et al., 1982, 1989, 2000). Though that a number may have appeared high, the variety of Sicilian environments considered, the composition of Sicilian tardigrade fauna may be considered far away from being completely known; for this reason, I have recently carried out, in col- laboration with G. Pilato and G. Sabella, new stud- ies that until now have led us to describe four species new to science (Pilato et al., 2014; Lisi et al., 2014). The total number of limno-terrestrial tardigrade species up to now reported from Sicily (and surrounding small islands) is 98. MATERIAL AND METHODS The current study has been based only on the re- examination of abundant old material, from the Pilato and Binda collection (Museum of the Depart- ment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, section of Animal Biology “Marcello La Greca”, University of Catania), collected and partially identified in the far past but the results had remained unpublished; in some cases the old diagnosis had to be updated revealing new records, and even new species, which is not surprising con- sidering that past tardigrade taxonomy was based on less strict criteria and some wrong convictions, so that little differences between populations, when noticed, were more easily attributed to individual variability within a single species rather than con- sidered as an indication that the two populations be- longed to distinct species. About the new records reported in Table 2, all the data about localities and samples are the only available, due to the fact that 298 Oscar Lisi at the time of collection it was not in use to take note of more detailed information. All the studied specimens were mounted in polyvinyl lactophenol. Specific diagnosis was based on the original descriptions and eventual redescrip- tions (Plate, 1889; Cuenot, 1929; Marcus, 1936; Binda, 1971; Pilato & Sperlinga, 1975; Dastych, 1984; Binda & Rebecchi, 1992; Bertolani & Rebecchi, 1993; Pilato & Binda. 1997/1998; Pilato et al., 2003; Tumanov, 2006; Pilato et al., 2011) and on the monograph by Ramazzotti e Maucci (1983); by comparison, specimens of the Pilato and Binda collection of the following species were examined: Hypsibius scabropygus Cuenot, 1929, Diphascon pingue (Marcus, 1936),/). biggins i Binda, 1971 and D. chilenense Plate, 1889. All observations and measurements were made under xlOO oil immersion using a Leica Phase Contrast Microscope equipped with a micrometer. RESULTS The progression of those studies has led to recognise other 13 species that represent new records for the studied area, and four of them are new records for the Italian fauna as well. The total number of limno-terrestrial tardigrade species for that area then raises to 111. The updated checklist of limno-terrestrial tardi- grade species present in Sicily (and surrounding small islands) is reported in Table 1, where the island in which each species was found is reported; I found it interesting to take into consideration also the presence of each species in north Africa, for hav- ing an idea of the faunal affinity with that region. In total 111 species are reported (98 already known, plus 13 new findings): 108 from Sicily (main island), 35 from the Aeolian Islands, 17 from Ustica and 11 from the Egadi Islands. Two species are new records only for the respective islands, 13 are new records for the whole studied area, four of which are new also for the Italian fauna (Table 2). A special mention has to be made about the tardi- grade fauna of North Africa, with which a remarkable affinity has come out: it shares with Sicily 40 species, representing a good 36.0% of the Sicilian species. Thirteen species (11.7%) today result to be endemic for the studied area. Nine “terrestrial” more or less recently described, and 4 already reported freshwater species: Carphania fluviatilis Binda, 1979 (the only freshwater species of the class Het- erotardigrada), Isohypsibius tubereticulatus Pilato et Catanzaro, 1990, 1. verae Pilato et Catanzaro, 1990, and Macroversum mirum Pilato et Catanzaro, 1989. As regards possible biogeographic evaluations, the geographic distribution of the 111 Sicilian tar- digrade species seems to confirm the modem ideas about tardigrade biogeography. It was very hard in the past to make biogeographic evaluations about the species of this group, due to wrong convictions about species individual variability and poorly strict criteria for specific diagnosis, and an overestimated effect of passive dispersal; these had great impact on the believed geographic distribution of the species creating great confusion and making very difficult to study tardigrade species from a biogeo- graphic point of view. However, thanks to a change in the evaluation of individual variability and the taxonomic criteria for specific diagnosis (eg. Pilato, 1975; 1979), as well as a reevaluation of the pos- sibility of passive dispersal (Pilato, 1979) which reflected into a reconsideration of the geographic distribution of the species, many old diagnosis mistakes have been corrected (and this correction still continues today), and starting with Mclnnes (1994) and Pilato & Binda (2001), it is today universally accepted to consider tardigrade species from the biogeographic point of view. Limiting myself to use the available data from the literature, in which old diagnosis mistakes very probably still hide, it is possible to notice that tardi- grade species tend to have a limited geographic distribution, at the level of zoogeographic region, not cosmopolitan, or nearly such, as believed in the far past. In Table 3 the zoogeographic spread of the 111 Sicilian tardigrade species is reported and the data confirms the above expressed idea. As regards the relatively high number of species reported from the literature as present in 7 zoogeographic regions, it must be stressed that those 1 7 species are mostly represented by species described in the far past (even about a century ago), so that there had been all the time, before the “revolution” of the last decades, for various authors to report the same species from all over the word; as a matter of fact, the correction of such diagnosis mistakes has been in the last decade one of the great goals of tardigrade taxonomists, and much still remains to be done. Current knowledge on the Sicilian tardigrade fauna 299 rank Sicily Aeolian Archipel. Ustica Aegadean Archipel. North Africa CARPHANIIDAE Carphania fluviatilis Binda, 1978 E * ECHINISCIDAE Biyodelphax tatrensis Weglarska, 1959 * * * Biyodelphax weglarskae Pilato, 1972 * Cornechiniscus lobatus (Ramazzotti, 1943) * Echiniscus blumi Richters, 1 903 * * * Echiniscus trisetosus Cuenot, 1932 * * * Echiniscus mediantus Marcus, 1930 * * Echiniscus bisetosus Heinis, 1908 * * * Echiniscus canadensis Murray, 1910 * * * Echiniscus testudo (Doyere, 1 840) * * * Echiniscus merokensis Richters, 1904 * * * * Echiniscus granulatus (Doyere, 1 840) * * * Echiniscus qucidrispinosus (Richters, 1902) *nr * Echiniscus carusoi Pilato, 1972 E * * * Echiniscus ramazzottii Binda et Pilato, 1969 E * Parechiniscus chitonides Cuenot, 1926 * * Pseudechiniscus pseudoconifer Ramazzotti, 1943 * MILNESIIDAE Milnesium almatyense Tumanov, 2006 NRI * Milnesium tardigradum Doyere, 1 840 * * * * * EOHYPSIBHDAE Bertolanius weglarskae (Dastych, 1972) * HYPSIBIIDAE Astatumen trinacriae (Arcidiacono, 1962) * * Bindius triquetrus Pilato, 2009 E * Diphascon belgicae Richters, 1911 * * Diphascon brevipes Marcus, 1936 * Diphascon carolae Binda et Pilato, 1969 * Diphascon chilenense Plate, 1888 NRS * Diphascon higginsi Binda, 1971 NRS * * Diphascon nelsonae Pilato, Binda, Bertolani et Lisi, 2005 * Diphascon nobilei Binda, 1 969 * * Diphascon patanei Binda et Pilato, 1971 * * Diphascon pingue Marcus, 1936 NRS * * Diphascon procerum Pilato, Sabella et Lisi, 2014 E * Diphascon recamieri (Richters, 1911) * Diphascon serratum Pilato, Binda, Bertolani et Lisi, 2005 E * Diphascon scoticum Murray, 1905 * Table 1. Limno-terrestrial tardigrade species from Sicily; Ranks: NRS = new record for the whole studied area (Sicily and surrounding islands); NRI = new record also for the Italian fauna; E = endemic. In the geographic region column, “nr” indicates new record only for the single island/arcipelago. Taxonomy according to Bertolani et al. (2014). 300 Oscar Lisi rank Sicily Aeolian Archipel. Ustica Aegadean Archipel. North Africa HYPSIBIIDAE Diphascon serratum Pilato, Binda, Bertolani et Lisi, 2005 E * Diphascon scoticum Murray, 1905 * Diphascon ziliense Lisi, Sabella et Pilato, 2014 E * Hypsibius convergens (Urbanowicz, 1925) * * * * Hypsibius conifer Mihelcic, 1938 * Hypsibius dujardini (Doyere, 1840) * * * Hypsibius microps Thulin, 1928 * * * Hypsibius pallidoides Pilato, Kiosya, Lisi, Inshina et Biserov, 2011 NRI * Hypsibis pallidus Thulin, 1911 * Hypsibius ragonesei Binda et Pilato, 1985 E * Hypsibius scabropygus Cuenot, 1929 NRS * Mixibius saracenus (Pilato, 1973) * Mixibius parvus Lisi, Sabella et Pilato, 2014 E * Platicrista angustata (Murray 1905) * * RAMAZZOTTIIDAE Ramazzottius oberhaeuseri (Doyere, 1840) * * Ramazzottius thulini (Pilato, 1970) * ISOHYPSIBIIDAE Doiyphoribius dory p horns (Binda et Pilato, 1969) * * * Doiyphoribius macrodon Binda, Pilato et Dastych, 1980 * Doiyphoribius zappalai Pilato, 1971 * Eremobiotus alicatai (Binda, 1969) * * Hexapodibius micronyx Pilato, 1969 * Isohypsibius arbiter Binda, 1980 NRS * Isohypsibius austriacus (Iharos, 1966) * * Isohypsibius dastychi Pilato, Bertolani et Binda, 1982 * Isohypsibius deconincki Pilato, 1971 * * Isohypsibius elegans Binda et Pilato, 1971 * * * * * Isohypsibius granulifer Thulin, 1928 * Isohypsibius kristenseni Pilato, Catanzaro et Binda, 1989 * Isohypsibius longi unguis Pilato, 1974 * Isohypsibius lunulatus (Iharos, 1966) * * * Isohypsibius marcellinoi Binda et Pilato, 1971 * Isohypsibius monoicus Bertolani, 1981 * Isohypsibius nodosus (Murray, 1907) * Isohypsibius pappi (Iharos, 1966) * * Isohypsibius prosostomus Thulin, 1928 * Isohypsibius reticulatus Pilato, 1973 * Table 1. Limno-terrestrial tardigrade species from Sicily; Ranks: NRS = new record for the whole studied area (Sicily and surrounding islands); NRI = new record also for the Italian fauna; E = endemic. In the geographic region column, “nr” indicates new record only for the single island/arcipelago. Taxonomy according to Bertolani et al. (2014). Current knowledge on the Sicilian tardigrade fauna 301 rank Siciliy Aeolian Archipel. Ustica Aegadean Archipel. North Africa Isohypsibius ronsisvallei Binda et Pilato, 1969 * Isohypsibius sattleri Richters, 1902 * * * * Isohypsibius silvicola (Iharos, 1966) * Isohypsibius tetractyloides Richters, 1907 * Isohypsibius tubereticulatus Pilato et Catanzaro,1990 E * Isohypsibius verae Pilato et Catanzaro, 1989 E * Parhexapodibius lagrecai (Binda et Pilato, 1969) * * * * Pseudobiotus matici (Pilato, 1971) * Pseudobiotus kathmanae Nelson, Marley et Bertolani, 1999 * Thulinius ruffoi (Bertolani, 1982) * Thulinius stephaniae (Pilato, 1974) * MACROBIOTIDAE Macrobiotus diffusus Binda et Pilato, 1987 * * * * * Macrobiotus echinogenitus Richters, 1904 * * * Macrobiotus harmsworthi Murray, 1907 * * * * * Macrobiotus hufelandi Schultze, 1834 * * * * * Macrobiotus insuetus Pilato, Sabella et Lisi, 2014 E * Macrobiotus islandicus Richters, 1 904 * * Macrobiotus macrocalix Bertolani et Rebecchi,1993 NRS * Macrobiotus nuragicus Pilato et Sperlinga, 1975 NRS * * Macrobiotus pallarii Maucci, 1954 * * * Macrobiotus patiens Pilato, Binda, Napolitano et Moncada, 2000 *nr * * Macrobiotus persimilis Binda et Pilato, 1972 * * * * Macrobiotus pilatoi Binda et Rebecchi, 1992 NRS * Macrobiotus polonicus Pilato, Kaczmarek, Michalczyk et Lisi, 2003 NRI * Macrobiotus sapiens Binda et Pilato, 1984 * Macrobiotus simulans Pilato, Binda, Napolitano et Moncada, 2000 * * Macrobiotus terminalis Bertolani et Rebecchi, 1993 NRS * Paramacrobiotus areolatus (Murray, 1907) * * * * Paramacrobiotus csotiensis (Iharos, 1966) * Paramacrobiotus richtersi (Murray, 1911) * * * * * Minibiuotus furcatus (Ehrenberg, 1859) * * Minibiotus intermedins (Plate, 1889) * * * * Minibiotus pseudofurcatus (Pilato, 1972) * * Minibiotus weinerorum (Dastych, 1984) NRI * Richtersius coronifer (Richters, 1903) * * Tenuibiotus tenuis (Binda et Pilato, 1972) * Xerobiotus pseudohufelandi (Iharos, 1966) * * * * Table 1. Limno-terrestrial tardigrade species from Sicily; Ranks: NRS = new record for the whole studied area (Sicily and surrounding islands); NRI = new record also for the Italian fauna; E = endemic. In the geographic region column, “nr” indicates new record only for the single island/arcipelago. Taxonomy according to Bertolani et al. (2014). 302 Oscar Lisi rank Siciliy Aeolian Archipel. Ustica Aegadean Archipel. North Africa MURRAYIDAE Dactylobiotus parthenogeneticus Bertolani, 1982 * Dactylobiotus dispar (Murray, 1907) * Macroversum minim Pilato et Catanzaro, 1989 E * Murray on pullari (Murray, 1907) * NECOPINATIDAE Necopinatum mirabile Pilato, 1971 * Table 1. Limno-terrestrial tardigrade species from Sicily; Ranks: NRS = new record for the whole studied area (Sicily and surrounding islands); NRI = new record also for the Italian fauna; E = endemic. In the geographic region column, “nr” indicates new record only for the single island/arcipelago. Taxonomy according to Bertolani et al. (2014). MILNE SIIDAE Milnesium almatyense Tumanov, 2006 NRI Cesaro (Messina) “Portella Femmina Morta”; moss sample. Ramacca (Catania); moss sample. HYPSIBIIDAE Diphascon chilenense Plate, 1889 Belpasso (Catania) “Contrada Milia”; chestnut leaf litter Diphascon higginsi Binda, 1971 Belpasso (Catania) “Contrada Milia”; chestnut leaf litter Diphascon pingue (Marcus, 1936) Belpasso (Catania) “Contrada Milia”; chestnut leaf litter Hypsibius pallidoides Pilato, Kiosya, Lisi, Inshina et Biserov, 2011 NRI Belpasso (Catania) “Contrada Milia”; chestnut leaf litter Hypsibius scabropygus Cuenot, 1929 Isnello (Palermo) “Pizzo Antenna” Madonie Mountains; lichens on tree trunk. ISOHYPSIBIIDAE Isohypsibius arbiter Binda, 1980 Belpasso (Catania) “Contrada Milia”; chestnut leaf litter. Bronte (Catania) “Contrada Rinazzo”; moss sample. MACROBIOTIDAE Macrobiotus macrocalix Bertolani et Rebecchi, 1993 Contessa Entellina (Palermo), Contrada Mazzaporro, - Nebrodi Mountains; moss sample Macrobiotus nuragicus Pilato et Sperlinga, 1975 Mandanici (Messina), Madonie Mountains; moss sample Macrobiotus pilatoi Binda et Rebecchi, 1992 Madonie Mountains; Sphagnum sample Macrobiotus polonicus Pilato, Kaczmarek, Michalczyk et Lisi, 2003 NRI Maletto (Catania) “Sciara St. Venera”; moss sample - Catania; moss sample Macrobiotus terminalis Bertolani et Rebecchi, 1993 Cesaro (Messina), Mt. Soro (Nebrodi Mountains); moss sample Minibiotus weinerorum D astych, 1984 NRI Isnello (Palermo) “Pizzo Antenna” Madonie Mountains; lichens on tree trunk. Table 2. New records of limno-terrestrial tardigrade species for Sicily and surrounding islands. NRI = new record also for the Italian fauna. Current knowledge on the Sicilian tardigrade fauna 303 Palearctic (of which endemic) Present in 2 zoogeographic regions Present in 3 zoogeographic regions Present in 4 zoogeographic regions Present in 5 zoogeographic regions Present in 6 zoogeographic regions Present in 7 zoogeographic regions Total 40(13) 19 15 5 11 4 17 111 36.0% (11.7%) 17.1% 13.5% 4.5% 9.9% 3.6% 15.3% 100% Table 3. Zoogeographic spread of the limno-terrestrial tardigrade species of Sicily. CONCLUSIONS As it can be seen, a limited study of old material may reveal new records and even new species, also with the change of old diagnoses, not correct in the light of the modem criteria; this, as well as improv- ing knowledge in general, allows to go ahead in the progress of tardigrade taxonomy and biogeography. 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Bollettino delle Sedute delTAccademia Gioenia di Scienze Naturali di Catania, 13: 103-120. Pilato G., Sabella G. & Lisi O., 2014. Two new tardi- grade species from Sicily. Zootaxa, 3754, 2: 173— 184. Pilato G., Kaczmarek L., Michalczyk L. & Lisi O., 2003. Macrobiotus polonicus, a new species of Tardigrada from Polan (Eutardigrada: Macrobiotidae, " hufelandi group"). Zootaxa, 258: 1-8. Pilato G. & Sperlinga G., 1975. Tardigradi muscicoli di Sardegna. Animalia, 2: 79-90. Pilato G., Kiosya Y., Lisi O., Inshina V. & Biserov V., 2011. Annotated list of Tardigrada records from Ukraine with the description of three new species. Zootaxa 3123: 1-31. Plate L., 1889. Beitrage zur Naturgeschichte der Tardi- graden. Zoologische Jahrbiicher. Abteilung fur Anatomie, 3: 487-550. Ramazzotti G. & Maucci W., 1983. II Phylum Tardi- grada. Memorie delTIstituto Italiano di Idrobiologia Marco De Marchi, 41: 1-1012. Tumanov D.V., 2006. Five new species of the genus Milnesium (Tardigrada, Eutardigrada, Milnesiidae). Zootaxa, 1122: 1-23. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 305-308 Monograph On the presence of Campodea majorica sicula Conde, 1 957 (Diplura Campodeidae) in the "Abisso della Pietra Selvaggia" cave (Mount Pellegrino, Palermo, Italy) Alessandro Marietta 1,2 *, Giuseppe Nicolosi 2 &Tiziana Grech 2 'Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences - section ofAnimal Biology “ M . La Greca”. University of Catania, via Androne 81, 95124 Catania, Italy; entail: am arlet@ unict.it 2 Centro Speleologico Etneo, via Valdisavoia 3, 95123 Catania, Italy; entail: gnicolosi@hotmail.it, tizianagrech@hotmail.it * C o rre sp o n d in g author ABSTRACT W e report for the first tim e the presence of Cdlfipoded UldjoriCd sicillci Conde, 1957 (Insecta, Diplura, Campodeidae) in the "Abisso della Pietra Selvaggia", a vertical karst cave situated in the southern slope of Mount Pellegrino, adjacent to the city of Palermo (Sicily). This hypogean subspecies is considered endemic of Sicily and up to now it was known only forthe “A ddaura Caprara” cave, located at the opposite slope (north-east) of Mount Pellegrino. During a spe- leological excursion in the "Abisso della Pietra Selvaggia" cave, organized by “Centro Spe- leologico Etneo” (Catania, Italy), 14 specimens of this subspecies were collected in the bottom of the cave, at -170 m. The bottom is one of the few humid areas of the cave, whereas the rest is very dry, dusty and apparently without Diplura. In addition to C. ITlClj OVicd siculd, currently are known the following C. fflCljoricd subspecies, all hypogean: C. Hldjoricd llUljoricCl C o n d e , 1 9 5 5, C. mdjoricd intcrjectd Conde, 1955, both endemic of some caves of Majorca Island (Balearic Islands, Spain) and C. ffldjoricd VdleYltUld Sendra et Moreno, 2004, found inside 7 caves located in the karstic area of M ount M onduver and Sierra de Corbera (SE of Valencia, Spain). KEY WORDS Diplura; b io s p e le o lo g y ; karst cave; hypogean fauna; Sicily. Received 22.07.2014; accepted 30.10.2014; printed 30.03.20 1 5 Proceedings of the 2nd Interna tional Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, M ay 1 6 th - 1 8 th 2014, Cefalu - Caste lb uono (Italy) INTRODUCTION Diplura is a poorly investigated order wich con- tains small and wingless species. They are unpig- mented and eyeless. The antennae are long and moniliformis.The abdomen ends with a pair of cerci that can be long and thin or short and pincer-like. The majority of the species usually are 2-5 mm long, although some species can reach 50 mm. There are about 94 known species in Italy, 19 of which occur in Sicily (Thibaud, 2013). The most part of the species belong to the Campodeidae family, that includes epigean and hypogean species. Campodea majorica sicula Conde, 1957 wasde- scribed on 4 specimens collected by P. Strinati on 21 August 1 956 in the A ddaura Caprara III cave (Conde, 1 957), located in the NE slope of Mount Pellegrino, near the city of Palermo (Sicily). Until now this was the only record in Sicily for the taxon. In the present paper we report for the first time the 306 Alessandro Marletta et alii presence of this subspecies also in the "Abisso della Pietra Selvaggia", a vertical karst cave situated in the southern slope of Mount Pellegrino. U p to now, in addition to C. ITldjoricd siculd, other three subspecies are known: C. tl'ldjoricd tTld- jorica Conde, 1955 , C. mdjoricd interjectd Conde, 1955, both endemic of some caves of M ajorca Island (Balearic Islands, Spain) and C. lTldjovicd VdleYltUld Sendra et Moreno, 2004, found inside 7 caves loc- ated in the karstic area of Mount Monduver and Sierra de Cor her a (SE of Valencia, Spain). All these taxa are strictly hypogean (Conde, 1 955b, 1 957; Sendra, 1985, Sendra & Moreno, 2004) . MATERIAL AND METHODS During the sampling in the "Abisso della Pietra Selvaggia" cave, 14 specimens of this sub- species were collected by hand and preserved in 7 0 % ethanol. The “Abisso della Pietra Selvaggia" cave is loc- ated in the Mount Pellegrino massif, within the "Riserva Naturale Orientata Regionale Monte Pel- legrino" (managed by Rangers d'ltalia), in the North-West Sicily, at the northern side of Palermo (Figs. 1, 2). The Reserve covers about 1020 ha and was created in 1996 to protect the Mount Pellegrino massif and the "Tenuta Reale della Favorita". It is also a Site of Community Importance (SCI) ITA020014. Mount Pellegrino is a car bona tic mas- sif (606 m a.s.l.) made up of rocks originated in shallow seas from Trias to Eocene. The mount is subjectto k ars t p h e n o m e n a and counts 134 caves of both marine and karst origin. The "Abisso della Pietra Selvaggia", is a ver- tical karst cave situated in the southern slope of M ount Pellegrino at an elevation of 425 m a.s.l. It is 171 m deep (Fig. 3) and itconsists of a sequence of four shaft, respectevely of 31 m, 6 m, 38 m, 62 m (Mannino, 1 985). The specimens were collected in the bottom of the cave (-157/-171 m), on the moist soil, among the stones and near stalagmites (Fig. 4). The hot to m is one of the few humid areas of the cave, the rest is very dry, dusty and apparently without Diplura. The specimens were examined in laboratory using a Feica M 205A stereom icroscope equipped with a Feica DFC 450 digital camera and a multi- focus image acquisition software (Feica Applica- tion Suite v.4.2.0). Moreover some macrophotos have been made on-site using digital SFR camera. Taxonomical reference are based on the checklist of "Fauna Europaea", version 2.6 (Thibaud, 2013). ABBREVIATIONS: ma: medial anterior m a c - rochaeta; la: lateral anterior macrochaeta; lp : lat- eral posterior macrochaeta. Figure 1. Location of Mount Pellegrino (Palermo, Sicily). Figure 2. Satellite image of Mount Pellegrino, with location of the investigated caves. Red square: Addaura Caprara; yellow square: Abisso della Pietra Selvaggia (from Google Earth) Campodea majorica sicula (Diplura Campodeidae) in theAbisso della Pietra Selvaggia” cave (Mount Pellegrino, Italy) 307 Figure 3. Longitudinal section and plan of“Abisso della Pietra Selvaggia” cave (M . Panzica survey, from M annino, 1985). Figure 4. Bottom of “Abisso della Pietra Selvaggia” (Photo by F. Fiorenza). Figure 5. C. lliajoriCQ. sicula ad ult female from “Abisso della Pietra Selvaggia”, body length 8 mm (Photo by F. Fiorenza). Campodea majorica sicula Conde, 1957 Examined material. Italy, Sicily, Palermo, “Abisso della Pietra Selvaggia” cave, 38°09’33.2”N ; 1 3 °2 1 ’ 2 5 .6 ”E ; 16. III. 2014, 3 fe- males, 2 males; 11. V. 2014, 5 females and 4 males, Marietta A., Nicolosi G., Grech T. legit. Description. Body length: 7mm male; 8 mm fe- rn ale (Fig. 5). Head (Fig. 6): Antennae with 41-43 antennom eres, cupuliform organ with 9-12 sensilla. Insertion line of antennae bordered by 3 + 3 macro- chaetae. Sensillum of third antennomere bacilliform and in latero -stern al position. Thorax: the typical notal macrochaetae distribution is similar to the o ther C. majorica subspecies with 3 + 3 (ma, la, lp) pronotal macrochaetae, 3 + 3 (ma, la, lp) mesonotal macrochaetae and 1 + 1 (nr a) nretanotal macro- chaetae (Fig. 7). Notal macrochaetae and setae similar to the other C. majorica subspecies, but slightly longer and thinner. The posterior-marginal setae are thick and crenellated. Mesonotal macro- chaetae lp/ma ratio is 1.74-2.21. Abdomen (Fig. 8): urotergite VI with 1 + 1 la macrochaetae, lp macro- chaetae absent. Urotergite VII with 1 + 1 la macro- chaetae and 1 + 1 lp macrochaetae. Urotergite VIII with la macrochaetae absent and 3 + 3 lp macro- chaetae. Posterior margin of urosternite I of males with 2-3 rows of glandular setae. Cerci 1.5 times longer than body length, with about 20 elongated articles with long macrochaetae and setae (Conde, 1957; Send r a & Moreno, 2004). 308 Alessandro Marletta et alii Remarks. According to Conde (1948, 1955a, 1957) and Sendra & Moreno (2 004), C. maj OHCd subspecies, together with C. CymeCl Conde, 1948 and C. blandinae Conde, 1948 (both hypogean species endemic of Corsica island), are considered closely related with C. gVCISSi Silvestri, 1912, an epigean species w id e spread in the western Mediter- ranean area (Italy mainland, Corsica, Sicily, Tunisia, Algeria and north-eastern of Iberian Peninsula) (Silvestri, 1912). They form a group of related species that share following common characters: elongated appendages, hypertrophic cupuliform organ of antennae, robust and short notal m ac ro c h ae tae , lateral posterior (lp) macro- chaetae absent or reduced, short clothing setae, body surface densely covered with thin micro- denticles and abdomen with 1 + 1 lateral anterior (la) macrochaetae from urotergites V or VI, 1 + 1 lp from VII and 3 + 3 lp in VIII. The phylogenetic history of these species and their adaptation pro- cess in the hypogean environment are still uncer- tain, thus more investigation would be necessary, also with mitochondrial DNA-based analysis. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thanks Dr. Alberto Sendra (Valencia, Spain) for his precious advices on iden- tification of this taxon; Dr. Salvatore Palascino (Director of Mount Pellegrino Natural Reserve) Figure 6. Campodea majorica sicula-. head (dorsal view ). Figure 7. Thorax (dorsal view ). Figure 8. Abdomen, urotergites V-X (for ab- breviations see text). for allowing us to conduct this study. And also the speleologists of “Centro Speleologico Etneo” for their technical support into the cave. REFERENCES Conde B ., 1 948. Campodeides hypoges de Corse. Bul- letin de la Societe des Sciences de Nancy, N. S. tome V II, no 3 . Conde B., 1 955 a. Campodeides cavernicoles des Baleares. Notes biospeologiques, 9: 121-132. Conde B ., 1 955b. Sur la faune endogee de Majorique (P e n ic ilia te s , Protoures, Diploures Campodeides, P a lp ig ra d e s ) . Bulletin du Museum d' Histoire naturelle, 2e serie, 26: 674-677. Conde B., 1957. Campodeides recoltes en Sicile par P. Strinati. Fragmenta Entomologica, II (14): 137-141. Mannino G., 1 9 8 5. L e grotte di Monte Pellegrino. Edizioni Etna Madonie del Club Alpino Siciliano: 212-225. Sendra A ., 1985. Campodeidos caver nicolas de Baleares. Endins, 10-11: 33-35. Sendra A. & Moreno A., 2004. El subgenero CttlTipodcCl s.str. en la Peninsula Iberica (Hexapoda: Diplura: C am podeidae). Boletin Sociedad Entomologica Aragonesa, 35: 1 9-3 8. Silvestri, F. 1912. Contribuzione alia conoscenza dei Campodeidae (Thysanura) d’Europa. Bolletino del Laboratorio di Zoologia generale ed agraria del R. Istituto superiore agrario di Portici, 6: 110-147. Thibaud J.M., 2013. Fauna Europaea: Diplura, Cam- podeidae. Fauna Europaea version 2.6, http:// www. faunaeur.org Biodiversity Journal, 2015 , 6 ( 1 ): 309-322 Monograph Remarks on the composition of the Auchenorrhyncha fauna in some moist areas in Southern Apulia (Italy) Adalgisa Guglielmino 1 & Christoph Buckle 2 'Department ofAgriculture, Forests, Nature and Energy, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy "Neckarhalde 48, D-72070 Tubingen. Germany Corresponding author, e-mail: guglielm@ unitus.it ABSTRACT A list of 84 Auchenorrhyncha species collected from field excursions in the province of Lecce (Southern Apulia) in June 2011 and April 2012 is given. Prevalently three areas were studied: the Regional Natural Park “Bosco e Paludi di Rauccio”, the Protected Oasis “LaghiAlimini” and the State Natural Reserve “Le Cesine”. Four species ( DdphciX lYlCridiOYlQlis (Haupt, 1924), Delphacodes capnodes (Scott, 1 8 7 0), Parapotes reticulatus (Horvath, i 897)and Calamotettix taeniatus (Horvath, 19 11) are recorded for the first time for Italy, five (Steiiokslisici CUlgUStCl Ribaut, 1934, Eludes basUmeCl ( Germar, 1821), ChlorionCL glciucescens F ieb er, 1 866, Hecalus Storai ( Lindberg, 1 936) and Melillaia desbrochersi ( Lethierry, 1 899) are new records for the Ape n nine Peninsula (“S” in the checklist of the Italian fauna) and 26 new for Apulia. For some species of special interest their ecology and distribution is discussed. The investigated areas are of high relevance for nature conservation as they constitute small relics of formerly vastly extended coastal marshes, where several stenotopic Auchenorrhyncha species occur, associated particularly with moist vegetation. Interesting is a group of taxa that are known only from the Balkan region and South Italy. Possibly the isolated occurrence of some other A uchenorrhy ncha taxa in Apulia is connected rather with the Balkan Peninsula than with Central Europe. KEY WORDS Faunistics; Ecology; Biogeography. Received 15.07.2014; accepted 30.09.2014; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, M ay 1 6 th - 1 8 th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION As the knowledge on the distribution of many species of Auchenorrhyncha in Italy is still rather fragmentary, and recent data for the southern regions of the peninsula are almost completely lacking, it may be useful to publish some data deri- ving from two sampling trips in June 2011 and April 2012, respectively, in some moist areas in the province of Lecce in Southern Apulia (Fig. 1). Especially three zones of notable naturalistic importance were investigated: the Regional Natural Park “Bosco e Paludi diRauccio”,the State Natural Reserve “Le Cesine” and the Protected Oasis “L ag h i A lim in i” . The Regional Natural Park “Bosco e Paludi di Rauccio” (Figs. 2-5) comprises many different habitats: forest of QueVCUS USX L . (residue of the “Foresta di Lecce”, a forest area that in the M iddle Ages extended between Lecce, the Adriatic coast, Otranto and Brindisi), a swampy area named Speech i a della Milogna, small ponds and moist areas, two coastalbasins (Id um e and Fetida), sandy seashore, som e zones of M editerranean m aquis and garigue, ruderal areas and pastures. The State Nat- ural Reserve “Le Cesine” (Figs. 6, 7) is an area of extreme envir on mental value. Even if prevalently a 3 10 Adalgisa Guglielmino & Christoph Buckle humid area, it includes in addition a large variety of habitats and transitional zones, which create a vast ecological mosaic. A part fro m extended reed areas, numerous canals, swamps and marshes and the basins of Pantano Grande and Salapi, there are many other habitats as pine forest, Mediterranean maquis, QuerCUS il6X forest and ruderal areas. The reserve includes 620 ha, defined as “moist zone of international value” (RAMSAR convention, 197 1); out of these 620 ha, 34 8 are “natural reserve of ani- malrepopulation” administrated by the W W F-ltaly. The Alim ini lakes (Fig. 8) consist of two basins: Alim ini Grande and Alimini Piccolo, named also Fontanelle, with the former being a salt water, the latter a fresh water lake. The oasis includes valuable areas of M editerranean m aquis and costal retrodunal lagoons of great naturalistic interest. The protected area is one of the most important natural sites of the Salento region, with an ecosystem rich of plant and animal species. It constitutes a “Zone of Special Protection” (ZPS), proposed as Site of European Community Importance (pSIC). The protected Oasis of Alimini lakes is a very important place where birds can rest and winter. MATERIAL AND METHODS The samplings were carried out in June 2011 and April 2012 at 18 localities (two of them s am pled tw ice). Figure 1. Map of the investigated areas in South Apulia. 1 = Bosco e PaludidiRauccio; 2 = Le Cesine; 3 = LaghiAlimini. We applied two collection methods: a) by en to - mological net and aspirator, b) directly by sight of single specimens by means of the aspirator. List of collecting sites In order to facilitate the comparison of data in our different papers on the Italian A uchenorrhyncha fauna we maintain the number system of collecting localities applied already in other publications. - St. 5 5 2: Torre Chianca, Bosco di Rauccio; N 40°27’52.4” E 1 8 ° 1 0 ’ 0 0 .4 ” ; 3 m; 1 9/06/20 1 1; ruderal area with shrubs of PistdCid lentisCUS L . an d Phillyrea l . (Fig. 2 ). - St. 5 5 3: Torre Chianca, Bosco di Rauccio; N40°28’11.8” E18°10’10.7”; 2 m; 20/0 6/2 011; Phragmites australis (c a v.) T rin . on th e m arg in of a field and moist areas with JuYlCUS L., BolboSChoenUS maritimus (L.) Palla, Cyperaceae (Fig. 3). - St. 554: Torre Chianca, Bosco di Rauccio; N 4 0 °2 8 ’ 0 2 .0 ” E18°10’19.8”; 6 m; 20/06/20 1 1; margin of Quercus ilex- forest, Pistacia lentiscus , Phillyrea and open areas. - St. 555: Torre Chianca, south of Bosco di Rauccio; N40°27’09.0” E 1 8 ° 1 1 ’ 5 7 .6 ” ; 3 m; 20/06/2011; moist area with CdreX L ., JuriCUS, Cyperaceae, Poaceae (Fig. 4). - St. 556: Torre Chianca, Bosco di Rauccio; Speech i a della Milogna; N40°28’09.6” E 1 8° 1 0’29.9 ”; 3 m; 2 1 /06/20 1 1; moist area with Bolboschoenus (Asch.) Palla in H allier & Brand, Carex, Tamarix l . , Phragmites a d a n s , June us. and dry ruderal area. - St. 557: Torre Chianca, Bosco di Rauccio; N40°27’56.5” E 1 8 ° 1 0 ’ 0 7 . 8 ” ; 7 m; 2 1 /06/20 1 1; forest of Quercus ilex with Pistacia lentiscus , Phillyrea , Clematis l ., Hedera l . etc . St. 558: Torre Chianca, Bacino Idume; N40°28’08.0” E 1 8 ° 1 1 ’2 1 .8 ”; 5 m; 2 1/06/20 1 1; vegetation near the sea and the basin with ElymUS l ., Phragmites , etc. - St. 5 5 9: L ag h i A lim in i, no rth o f L ag o Grande; N40°12’31.6” E 1 8°25 ’4 1 .4”; 10 m; 22/06/20 1 1; moist area with J uncus, Phragmites, Cyperus l . St. 560: Laghi Alimini, L ago Piccolo; N40°10’50.9” E 18°27’04.7”; 4 m; 22/06/20 1 1; m oist area w ith CdreX ( Fig. 8). - St. 561: Torre Chianca, south of Bosco di Rauccio; N40°27’08.9” E 1 8 ° 1 1 ’ 5 7 .4 ” ; 6 m; Remarks on the composition of the Auchenorrhyncha fauna in some moist areas in Southern Apulia (Italy) 3 1 1 Figure 2. Bosco e Paludi di Rauccio: St. 5 52. Figure 3. Bosco e Paludi di Rauccio: St. 55 3. Figure 4. South of Bosco e Paludi di Rauccio: St. 555. Figure 5. South of Bosco e Paludi di Rauccio: St. 561. Figure 6. Le Cesine: St. 563. Figure 7. Le Cesine: St. 562. Figure 8. LaghiAlimini: St. 560. Figure 9. Porto Badisco: St. 564. 3 1 2 Adalgisa Guglielmino & Christoph Buckle 22/06/2011; open dry stony area, Phillyrea , P o a c e a e , Ca VeX , RubllS L., thistles (Fig. 5). St. 5 62: Natural Reserve “Le Cesine”; N40°21’16.7” E 1 8 ° 2 0 ’ 2 6 .2 ” ; 4 m; 23/06/20 1 1; shore of lagoon, Phragmites , Bolboschoenus , Carex, Tamarix (Fig. 6 ) . St. 563: Natural Reserve “Le Cesine”; N 4 0 °2 1 ’ 0 3 .9 ” E 1 8°2 1 ’05 .4”; sea level; 23/06/20 1 1; shore of lagoon, Bolboschoenus , Carex, Cyperaceae (Fig. 7). - St. 5 64: between Porto Badisco and Santa Cesarea; N 4 0 ° 0 4 ’ 0 8 .0 ” E 1 8 °2 8 ’44 .8 ” ; 45 m; 24/0 6/20 1 1; dry rocky area and srn all pine forest w ith Brachypodium p . B eau v., Carex, Poaceae (Fig. 9). - St. 622: Natural Reserve “Le Cesine”; sea level; 1 7/04/20 1 2; forest, shore of lagoon, shrubs, herbaceous vegetation. - St. 623: West ofNatural Reserve “Le Cesine”; N40°20’50.3” E 1 8 ° 1 9 ’3 3 .8 ” ; 20 m; 1 7/04/20 1 2; olive grove, herbaceous vegetation with prevalently Fabacae, Poaceae. St. 624: road S. Cataldo - Frigole; N 40°23’38.6” E 1 8 ° 1 5 ’ 2 3 .4 ” ; 20 m; 1 7/04/20 1 2; open dry area with Poaceae and maquis vegetation. - St. 625: Torre Chian ca, Bosco di Rauccio; N40°27’23.6” E 1 8 ° 1 0 ’ 0 0 . 7 ” ; 6 m; 1 8/04/20 1 2; meadow, herbaceous vegetation. - St. 626: Torre Chianca, Bosco di Rauccio; N40°27’56,5” E18°10’07.8”; 7 m; 18/0 4/2 012; forest of Quercus ilex w ith Pistacia lentiscus, Phillyrea, Clematis, Hedera e tc . - St. 627: Torre Chianca, south of Bosco di Rauccio; N40°27’09.0” E 1 8 ° 1 1 ’ 5 7 .6 ” ; 3 m; 1 8/0 4/20 1 2; moist area with Mentha L., CareX, J UnCUS, Cyperaceae, Poaceae. - St. 628: coast between Frigole and Torre Chianca; N40°2 7 , 3 3.8 ” E 1 8 ° 1 2 ’ 5 0 .9 ” ; 2 m; 18/04/2012; open area near seashore with Poaceae, CareX, herbaceous vegetation. in the - List of collected specimens" are indicated for each species: the collection locality and in parentheses the number of males, females and (if present) nymphs, separated by semicola, respecti- vely. For some species brachypterous (b) and macropterous (m ) specimens are listed separately; ifboth forms were present they are divided by com- rnata. New records for Italy are indicated by N I, new records forpeninsular Italy (“ S ” in D’Urso, 1995a) by N P I, and new records for A p u lia by N R A . RESULTS List of collected specimens Fam ilia C IX IID A E Pentastiridius suezensis (Matsumura, 1 9 1 o ) 555 (1; 0) 558 (1; 0) 562 (26; 13) 563 (1; 1) Familia DELPHACIDAE Asiraca clavicornis (Fabricius, 1 7 9 4 ) 552 (0; 1 ) 627 (0; 1 ) Kelisia guttula (G erm ar, 18 18) 556 (1 ; 1 ) Kelisia guttulifera (Kirschbaum, 1 8 6 8 ) 552 (1; 0) - NRA Kelisia gr. ribauti Wagner, 193 8 559 (2; 3) 628 (1 ; 0) - NPI Stenocranus fuscovittatus (Stai, 1 8 5 8 ) 556 (1; 1 ) - N R A Stenokelisia angusta Ribaut, 1934 554 (1; 0) 555 (7; 3; 9) 556 (0; 1) 560 (6; 0; 2) Eurysanoides rubripes (Matsumura, 1 9 1 o ) 624 (3b; 5b) - N R A Delphax inermis Ribaut, 1934 555 (0; lb) - N R A Delphax meridionalis (Haupt, 1924) 556 (1 ; 0) - N I Euides basilinea (G erm ar, 1 8 2 1 ) 5 6 2 ( 1 m ; 0 ) - NPI Chloriona glaucescens Fieber, 1 8 6 6 558 (2m; 0) 562 (3m; lm) - NPI Chloriona sicula M atsum ura, 19 10 553 (8m; 3b, 4m) 554 (4m;2b)555 (14m;4b,2m; 1)558 (lm; 0) 559 (11m; 2m) 627 (12m; 2b) - NRA Laodelphax striatella (Fallen, 1 8 2 6 > 552 (0; 2m) 553 (lm; 0) 559 (2m; 3m) - NRA Remarks on the composition of the Auchenorrhyncha fauna in some moist areas in Southern Apulia (Italy) 3 1 3 Delphacodes capnodes (Scott, 1 8 70) 555 (1 m ; 0) - N I Muirodelphax aubei (Perris, 1 857) 556 (2 b , lm;lb,2m),558 (7b; 3b; 2) 624 (0; lb) 628 (0; lb) Florodelphax leptosoma (Fior, 1 8 6 1 ) 556 (0; lb) 559 (4b,2m;4b,2m)-NRA Toya obtusangula (Linnavuori, 1 95 7) 553 (lm; lm) Toya propinqua (Fieber, 1 866) 552 (lm; lm) 559 (3m; 2m) 564 (3m; 0) 623 (lm; 0) N R A Flastena fumipennis (Fieber, 1 866 ) 559 (lb; lb) - N R A F am ilia TROPIDUCHIDAE Trypetimorpha sp. 556 (0 ; 0 ; 1 ) - N R A Figure io. Pentastiridius suezensis. Figure li. Stenokelisia angusta. Figure 12. Delphax meridionalis. Figure 13. Mocydiopsis oranensis. Figure 14. Melillaia desbrochersi. Figure 15. Adarrus reductus. Photos by m a s s im o Vo llaro . 3 14 Adalgisa Guglielmino & Christoph Buckle F a m ilia CALISCELIDAE Caliscelis bonellii (Latreille, 1 8 0 7 ) 56 1 (1 ; 0) Homocnemia albovittata a. Costa, 1 8 5 7 556 (0; 0; 1 ) Peltonotellus quadrivittatus (Fieber, 1 8 7 6 ) 564 (0; 1) Ommatidiotus dissimilis (Fallen, 1 8 o 6 ) 556 (0; 0; 1 ) 628 (0; 0; 2) - N R A Familia ISSIDAE Agalmatium bilobum (Fieber, 1 8 7 7 ) 552 (1 ; 0) Agalmatium flavescens (Olivier, 1 7 9 1 ) 552 (2; 1) 561 (1; 0) Issus lauri Ahrens, 1818 552 (0; 1)554 (6; 1)557 (2;4)622 (2; 0; 2) Latissus dilatatus (Fourcroy, 1 78 5 ) 55 7 (2; 1) Familia CERCOPIDAE Cercopis sanguinolenta (Scopoii, 1 7 6 3 ) 624 (2; 0) 625 (3; 1) Fam ilia APHROPHORIDAE Lepyronia coleoptrata (Linnaeus, 175 8) 553 (1; 1) 554 (2; 0) 555 (0; 1) 556 (1; 0) 562 (2; 0) Neophilaenus campestris (Fallen, 1 805) 552 (0; 1 ) 5 5 7 (0; 1 ) 564 (1 ; 1) Neophilaenus lineatus (Linnaeus, 175 8) 559 (9; 1) 561 (5; 1) 564 (1; 0) 622 (0; 1) Philaenus spumarius (Linnaeus, 1 758 ) 552 (0; 2) 554 (1; 0) 557 (1; 0) 624 (0; 1) 625 (2; 3) Familia CICADELLIDAE Agallia consobrina Curtis, 1 8 3 3 552 (0; 1 ) 557 (3; 13) Anaceratagallia laevis (Ribaut, 1935) 552 (2; 2) 556 (3; 4) 559 (3; 0) 562 (3; 0) 564 (2; 2) Austroagallia sinuata (M ulsant etRey, 1 855) 552 (0; 2) 553 (1; 1) 558 (8; 3) 564 (0; 5) 625 (0; 2) Bugraia ocularis (M ulsant et Rey, 1 855) 552 (1; 1) 554 (1; 2) 557 (2; 2; 1) 622 (2; 13) 626 (0; 7) Hecalus Storai (Lindberg, 1 9 36) 561 (2; 0) - NPI Stegelytra cf. erythroneura Haupt, 1924 557 (0; 0; 1) - N R A Empoasca alsiosa Ribaut, 1933 628 (1 ; 2) - N R A Lindbergina (Youngiada) sp. 557 (0; 9) - N R A Ribautiana tenerrima (Herrich-s chaffer, 1 8 3 4 ) 554 (0; 1 ) - N R A Eupteryx thoulessi Edwards, 19 26 622 (1 ;0) - N R A Eupteryx zelleri (Kirschbaum, 1 8 6 8 ) 564 (1 ; 6) 622 (0; 1 ) 624 (1 ; 0) Zyginidia adamczewskii d worakowska, 1970 564 (2; 0) - N R A Zyginidia gr. ribauti d worakowska, 1970 552 (20; 1 8) 55 3 (2; 4) 554 (2; 2) 556 (1; 2) 561 (0; 1) 559 (7; 13) 562 (2; 1) 564 (9; 0) 624 (1; 1) 628 (7; 3) Arboridia parvula (B ohem an, 1 845 ) 552 (1 ; 1 ) Grypotes staurus ivanoff, 18 85 55 7 (3; 4; 2) Opsius lethierryi Wagner, 1942 556 (3; 0) 562 (1; 3) Opsius stactogalus Fieber, 1866 555 (1 ; 5 ) 556 (2; 0) Neoaliturus fenestratus (Herrich-Schaffer, 1 8 34) 552 (0; 1) 553 (0; 1) 556 (1; 0) 559 (0; 2) Circulifer sp. 552 (0; 1) Balclutha nicolasi (Lethierry, 1 8 76 ) 559 (6; 10; 1) - NR A Balclutha rosea (Scott, 1 8 7 6 ) 55 3 (0; 1 ) 562 (0; 1) - N R A Remarks on the composition of the Auchenorrhyncha fauna in some moist areas in Southern Apulia (Italy) 3 15 Macrosteles ossiannilssoni Lindberg, 1954 555 (1 ; 3) - N R A Macrosteles quadripunctulatus (Kirschbaum, 1 8 6 8 ) 623 (2; 1) Maiestas sp. 557 (0; 2) 559 (0; 1) Varta rubrostriata (Horvath, 1 9 o 7 ) 554 (7; 4) - N R A Doratura g r. paludosa M elichar, 1 897 556 (1 ; 2) 564 (2; 1 ; 1) Fieberiella florii (Stai, 1 8 6 4 ) 552 (0; 1 ) 554 (0; 1 ) 55 7 (1; 0; 1) Synophropsis lauri { Horvath, 1 897 ) 55 7 (1 ; 0) - N R A Anoplotettix sp. 552 (0; 1) Selenocephalus stenopterus signoret, 1 8 8 o 56 1 (1 ; 0) Cicadula lineatopunctata (m atsumura, 1 9 o 8 ) 559 (4; 7) - NRA Mocydia crocea (Herrich-Schaffer, 1 8 3 7) 627 (0; 1) Mocydiopsis oranensis (M atsumura, 1 908 ) 56 1 (4; 4) Thamnotettix dilutior ( Kirschbaum, 1 8 68 ) 55 7 (1 ; 0) Thamnotettix zelleri (Kirschbaum , 1 8 68) 623 (7; 8; 7) Conosanus obsoletus (Kirschbaum, 1 8 5 8 ) 552 ( 1 ; 0 ) 55 3 (2;5 ) 555 (2;4) 556 (2 ; 3 ) 559 (0;2) Euscelis alsius Ribaut, 1952 55 3 (1 ; 0) - N R A Euscelis lineolatus Bruiie, 1 8 3 2 552 (10; 10)553 (5 ; 0 ) 5 5 4 (2;4)555 ( 1 ; 0 ) 5 5 6 (1 ; 2) 55 7 (5; 6) 559 (7; 5) 564 (3; 1) Streptanus josifovi Diaboia, 1957 624 (5; 1 1 ) 626 (2; 2) Artianus manderstjernii (Kirschbaum, 1 8 68) 556 (2; 0) Melillaia desbrochersi (Lethierry, 1 889) 623 (32; 17) 624 (0; 1) 626 (1; 5) - NPI Paramesus obtusifrons (Stai, 1 8 5 3 ) 553 (9; 3) 555 (1; 2) 556 (2; 3 ) 562 (8; 2; 1) 563 (5; 2) Parapotes reticulatus (Horvath, 1 8 9 7 ) 563 (1 0; 3) - NI Paralimnus phragmitis (Boheman, 1 847) 555 ( 1 ; 2 ) 556 (1 ;2) 562 (2; 14) - NRA Psammotettix alienus (D ahibom , 1 8 5 o ) 552 (6; 6) 553 (2; 9) 554 (0; 7) 556 (0; 2) 558 (2; 3) 559 (11; 0) 5 62 (2 ; 0 ) 5 6 4 ( 7 ; 8 ) 6 2 2 ( 7 ; 7 ) 6 2 3 (5 ; 2 ) 6 2 4 (3; 2) 625 (3; 1) 627 (1; 0) 628 (18; 18; 18) Psammotettix confinis (D ahibom, 1 8 5 o ) 559 (4; 0) Adarrus reductus (m elichar, 1 897) 561 (25; 22) 564 (17; 9) 627 (0; 1) Jassargus latinus (Wagner, 1942) 624 (0; 1) Arthaldeus striifrons (Kirschbaum, 1 8 68 ) 556 (0; 3) - NRA Calamotettix taeniatus (Horvath, 1 9 1 1 ) 562 (2; 14) - NI The investigated areas 1. Bosco di Rauccio and adjacent areas (St. 5 5 2- 558, 561, 625-627) (Figs. 2-5): 67 taxa collected. The high number of collected species is due to the m ajor collecting intensity in relation to the other two investigated areas. Ten localities with different ecological features were studied, two of them in two different seasons. Particular importance have the reed areas with six species of PhrClginiteS fe e d ers , among them Pentastiridius suezensis, Chloriona glaucescens, Delphax inermis and D. meridionalis. In other moist areas, characterized by Cyper- aceae and Juncaceae, further inter esting species were discovered: Stenokelisia angiista, Delphacodes capnodes , Ommatidiotus dissimilis (ail on Carex s p p . ) , Florodelphax leptosoma (on J uncus), Toya 3 1 6 Adalgisa Guglielmino & Christoph Buckle obtusangula (on Poaceae?) and Eupteryx thoulessi (on Mentha aquatica l.)- Varta rubrostriata lives on tussocks of a tall Poaceae species (probable Erianthus ravennae ) which is present on field margins west of Specchia della Milogna. In the central forest area nine (unfortunately female) specimens of an interesting Ty p h lo c y b in ae species, Lindbergina ( Youngiada ) sp., were collected on QuerCUS ilex , and the brachypterous Deltocephal- in ae Melillaia desbrochersi on the low vegetation of small clearings. The dry areas south of the Nat- ural Reserve with a garigue like vegetation furni- shed very interesting results as well. Among other species there were found AdarrUS redliCtUS , HecaluS storai and Mocydiopsis oranensis. 2. Le Cesine and adjacent areas (St. 562, 563, 622, 623 ) (Figs. 6, 7): 22 taxa collected. Only four localities in this area were investig- ated. Again, the reed areas along the lagoons are particularly rich of interesting Auchenorrhyncha: on PhragUliteS the following species were collec- ted: Pentastiridius suezensis , Euides basilinea , Chloriona glaucescens , Paralimnus phragmitis and Calamotettix taeniatus. Parapotes reticulatus was found not far from the PHvagniiteS sites on Schoenoplectus lacustris , Eupteryx thoulessi on Mentha aquatica. a rich population of Melillaia desbrochersi was collected in spring on the herb- aceous vegetation of an olive grove. 3. Laghi Alim ini (St. 559, 560) (Fig. 8): 18 taxa collected . Only two sites were studied in this area. A rich population of Stenokelisia angusta w as observed on tall sedges near the reed belt around Lago Piccolo. Kelisia g r . ribauti ( o n Carex s p . ) , Florodelphax lepto- soma ( o n June us) . Flastenafumipennis and Balclutha nicolasi {on Cyperus ) were collected in a moist area with different small Cyperaceae and Juncaceae. Observations on some taxa of special interest Pentastiridius suezensis (M atsumura, 1910) (St. 555, 558, 562, 563) (Fig. 10) a ii Pentastiridius specimens collected in 201 1/2012 in Apulia (and a population found some years before in northern Apulia, province of Foggia, Lago di Lesina) belong to this taxon. Their aedeagus shape corresponds to the figures given by Van Stalle (1991), and by Wagner (1954), who probably had seen the type material. The species shares apparently the ecological preferences with P. lepOHUUS (Linnaeus, 1761) and was found in abundance on PhragmiteS australis in coastal lagoon areas and sim ilar h ab itats . In D’Urso (1995a) the presence of this species in Italy is regarded as doubtful with records of Oliarus pollens (Germar, 1821) possibly referring to P. suezensis. ah Pentastiridius Kirschbaum, 1868 specimens we collected in other parts of Italy including Sardinia and all Pentastiridius sp e c im e n s in the S erv a d e i c o lie c tio n under the name OliarUS leporinus l. and O. pollens , which were checked by the authors, belong to P. leporinUS. Thus, it seems that P. Suezensis is present only in a part of southeastern Italy, where it replaces P. leporinus, which is present and common in all other regions of peninsular Italy. P. SU£Zensis is described from Egypt, and has a wide distribution primarily in many parts of southern, southeastern and eastern Europe, but also in Africa and Asia until India and Philippines (Van Stalle, 1991). Until now, there are unresolved taxonom ical problem s in this species group (see Holzinger et al., 2003, Webb et al., 2013). Kelisia gr. ribauti w agner, 193 8 (St. 5 5 9, 62 8 ) There are some doubts about the identity of Kelisia ribauti in Central Europe and the popula- tions in the M editerranean regions (see Guglielmino et al., 2005). Italian populations of this species group were found in many different habitats from localities near the seashore until moderately high mountain areas, always in moist environments on different small Ca rex species. At least at low altitude they hibernate in the adult stage. Steno cr anus fuse ovittatus (Stai, 1 8 5 8 ) (St. 5 5 6) (Fig. 16) - NR A Species widely distributed in the Palaearctic region. In Italy it is recorded from Trentino Alto Adige (Servadei, 1 967), Veneto (Minelli & Mannucci, 1 979), Lazio (Castellani, 1 95 3 ). The record for Lazio is doubt ful and may refer rather to S. major (K irschb aum , 1 8 6 8). In A p u lia th e species is found in marshes on tall sedges. This is in con- gruence with the observations in Nickel (2003). Remarks on the composition of the Auchenorrhyncha fauna in some moist areas in Southern Apulia (Italy) 3 1 7 Figure 16 . Stenocranus fnscovittatus. Figure 17 . Euides basilinea. Figure is. Chloriona glances cens. Figure 19. Delphacodes capnodes. Figure 20 . Ommatidiotus dissimilis. Figure 21. Varta rubrostriata. Figure 22. Parapotes reticulatus. Figure 23. Calamotettix taeniatus. p hotos Gemot Kunz. 3 1 8 Adalgisa Guglielmino & Christoph Buckle Stenokelisia angusta Ribaut, 1934 (St. 554. 555, 556, 560) (Fig. 11) - NPI The species is recorded from Sicily (A sc he, 1 98 5) and Sardinia (Guglielmino et al., 2000). It is It is indicated in Della Giustina & Remane (1991) as therm o-xer op hilous and feeding possibly on Carex flucca S c h ieb er. Habitat and host plant of th e populations found in Apulia do not coincide with this characterization . The host plant in Apulia is a tall sedge like Carex dCUtifOYTYlis E hrh the habitats are moist areas in marshes. In Sardinia the species was found in a spring fen at an altitude of about 1000 m. Delphax inermis Ribaut, 1934 (St. 5 5 5 ) - NR A The species is widely distributed in the Mediter- ranean area. In Italy it seems to be rather rare and is recorded only from Lazio and Sicily (Servadei, 1968; D’Urso, 1995a). The record forLazio should be con- firmed. The host plant is PhmgmiteS australis. Delphax meridionalis (Haupt, 1924 ) (St. 5 5 6) (Fig. 12) - NI This species is recorded until now only from Greece. In Italy it is replaced apparently by the close related D. vibciUticinUS Asche et Drosopoulos, 1982. The new record for Italy represents one of several examples in which taxa present on the Balkan Peninsula occur also in southern or south- eastern Italy. The specimen in Apulia was collected o n Phragmites australis in a marsh area. Euides basilinea (Germar, 1 8 2 1 ) (St. 562) (Fig. 17) - NPI Also this species is a Phragmites fee A tv. In Italy it w as recorded until now only from Trentino Alto Adige (Servadei, 1968) and Veneto-Lom bardia (O sella, Pagliano-O sella, 1989). The specimen from Apulia was found on the shore of a lagoon together w ith Pentastiridius suezensis, Chloriona glauces- cens and Calamotettix taeniatus. Chloriona glaucescens Fieber, 18 66 (St. 5 5 8, 5 62) (Fig. 18) - NPI The species is distributed in Europe (except for the Iberian Peninsula) and in Central Asia. In Italy it is recorded by Servadei (1967) from Trentino Alto Adige. This record is dubious in view of the prefer- ence of this Chloriona Fieber, 1 866 species for brackish habitats. The habitats in Apulia were reeds on the seashore or along the shore of lagoons. Host plant is Phragmites australis. Delphacodes capnodes (Scott, 1 8 7 o ) (St. 5 5 5 ) (Fig. 19) - NI The species is widely distributed in central and southeastern Europe. Tall sedges are recorded as host plants. This coincides with our observations in Apulia. Trypetimorpha sp (St. 5 5 6) - N R A Only one nymph was co lie c te d fro m th is g e n u s , the identification of which at species level is at present impossible. In the past there was some nom enclatural confusion in this genus (see Huang & Bourgoin, 1993; Guglielmino et al., 2005). In Italy, two Trypetimorpha Costa 1 8 6 2 species are present: T. occidentalis h uang et Bourgoin, 1993 widespread and common in Central Italy, and T. fenestrata C o sta , 1 862 described from Campania and recorded also from Basilicata by Servadei (1 967; as T. piloStt Horvath, 190 7 now a synonym of T. fenestrata). We checked the s p e c im e n s fro m Basilicata in the S er v ad e i-c o lie c tio n and confirmed the identification as T. fenestrata. Ommatidiotus dissimilis (Fallen, 1 8 o 6 ) (St. 5 5 6, 62 8) (Fig. 20) - NR A The species is widespread in the Palaea retie region. In the past it was considered ty rp h o p h ilo u s and monophagous on Eriophorum vaginatum L . (Nickel, 2003). However, in the meantime it was found also on other Eriophorum L. taxa and on several CareX species in quite diverse habitats. In Italy it is recorded from Trentino Alto Adige and Veneto (Servadei, 1967), Toscana (M azzoni, 2005), Abruzzo and L azio (G uglielm ino e t al., 2 0 0 5 ) . H o s t plants in Apulia are small sedges in moist areas near the coast. This coincides with the habitats in Lazio. In Abruzzo, however, the species was found on dry mountain pastures at an altitude of 1900 m (on Carex cf. kitaibeliana Degen ex B e c h . ) . No mor- phological differences were observed between these different populations. Hecalus storai (Lind berg, 1 93 6) (St. 56 1) - NPI The species is described from the Canary Islands and recorded also from France. Our identi- Remarks on the composition of the Auchenorrhyncha fauna in some moist areas in Southern Apulia (Italy) 3 19 fication is based on Ribaut’s description and fig- ures. In Italy there is only a record from Sicily (Pan- teller ia) (D’Urso & Guglielmino, 1995). HecaluS Stal, 1864 species may be rather variable in size and vertex shape, whereas there are only slight differ- ences in the genital morphology. Therefore it is difficult to define specific characters. Linnavuori (1975) made an importantcontribution to the know- ledge of the genus, but many problems are left. The specimens in Apulia were found in a dry and stony habitat south of Bosco di Rauccio. Stegelytra cf. erythroneura Haupt, 1924 (St. 5 5 7 ) - N R A Un til now this genus was not recorded forApulia. We found only one nymph (on QueVCUS ileX) .The authors collected in central and Southern Italy (and Sardinia) only S. erythroneura (on Quercus ilex an A Q. Cervis L . ) . Probably also the nymph from Bosco di R auccio belongs to this taxon. The other Stegelytra Ghauri 1972 taxon present in Italy, S. pUtOlli (M u Is an t et Rey, 1875), was collected by the authors in Liguria (on Q. ilex ) (Guglielmino & Buckle, 2007), and was later recorded by M azzoni (2005) from Toscana. Lindbergina (Youngiada) sp. (St. 5 5 7 ) - N R A No species of YoUUgiada Dlabola, 1959 was recorded before from Apulia. We collected only fe- rn ales, an identification of which on species level is not possible. They present the sam e colouration as a fern ale collected in Southern Lazio (Guglielmino etal.,2005) and were found like the specimen from Lazio on QueVCUS Hex. In Italy until now two species of this subgenus are recorded: Lindbergina loewi (Lethierry, 1884), a doubtful record from Friuli Venezia Giulia, (see D’Urso, 1 995 a) and L. chobauti { Ribaut, 1952) (Vidano & Arzone, 1987; M azzoni, 2005). Zyginidia adamczewskii Dworakowska, 1970 (St. 564) - N R A The species is described from Croatia and recor- ded also from Greece (Drosopoulos et a 1. , 1986). The first and only record in Italy is from Campania (Vidano, 1 982). Vidano (1 982) indicates Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., Agropyron repens (L.) p. Beauv. and other Poaceae as host plants. The specimens in Apulia were collected in a dry rocky garigue like habitat. Zyginidia gr. ribauti Dworakowska, 1970 (St. 552-554, 556, 5559, 561, 562, 564, 624, 628) Very common taxon throughout peninsular Italy; it is replaced in Sardinia by Z. SCUtellaris (H e rr ic h - S c h affer, 1 8 3 8 ), and in Northern Italy p artly by Z. pullula (Bo hem an, 1845). The relatio n - ships betw een Z. ribauti, Z. Serpentina (M atsum ura, 1908) and Z. italica (Ribaut, 1947) should be clari- fied (see also Guglielmino et al., 2005). Z. gr. ri- bauti displays a remarkable variability in its aedeagus morphology, not only between different populations, but also within the same population. Circulifer s P (St. 5 5 2) Only one female of this genus was collected in a maquis like area of Bosco di Rauccio. The genus (often inserted in NeoaHturUS D istan t, 19 18) is very problematic in respect of species discrimination. Italian populations are quite diverse in colouration and size. However, no distinct differences in the genital morphology of males and females were observed. In males, the shape of the genital plates corresponds to that given by Ribaut (1 952) for c. HaematOCepS (Mulsant et Rey, 1855). The habitats are generally dry places in low and median altitude, also sandy seashores. The host plants are in some cases apparently CistUS sp., in others Chenopodi- aceae. In Germany Circulifer c f . haematOCepS w a s found on Sedum L. (Crassulaceae) (Nickel, pers. c o m m . ) . Maiestas sp (St. 5 5 7, 5 59) The females of this genus found during our study in Apulia belong with great probability to M. Schmidt geni (Wagner, 1939), which is very wide- spread and common in dry ruderal lowland places in peninsular Italy. Varta rubrostriata (Horvath, 190 7) (St. 5 54) (Fig. 2 1) - NR A After the revision of the Varta- StyniphaluS g e n - eric complex ( V iraktam ath , 2004) the distribution of v: rubrostriata should be checked. In Italy it is recorded from Lazio and Basilicata (Servadei, 1967). The presence in both regions was con firm e d by the authors. The host plants in Italy are appar- ently Erianthus ravennae (L.) p. Beauv. and Im- perata cylindrica (L.) p. b eauv., in Bulgaria and Greece it occurs also on SorghuiTl Halepense (L .) Pers. 320 Adalgisa Guglielmino & Christoph Buckle Doratura gr paludosa Melichar, 1897 (St. 5 5 6, 5 64) The group of species close to D. paludoSQ. is in need of revision. A paper on the topic is in prepara- tio n . The Doi'CltUVCl J. Sahib erg, 1871 pop u latio n s fo u n d in southern A p u lia belong to the same species that is found in other Adriatic parts of peninsular Italy. In the past those populations were recorded sometimes as D. pClludoSCl, sometimes as D. veneta D lab o la , 1 95 9. Mocydiopsis oranensis (Matsumura, 190 8) (St. 561) (Fig. 13) W estm editerranean species, in Italy recorded only from Apulia (Gargano) and Sicily (Guglielmino, 1993). A small localized population was found during the recent study in Apulia in a dry and stony garigue like habitat together with AdarrUS VedllCtUS (M elichar, 1 89 7). Melillaia desbrochersi (Lethieny, 1 8 8 9 ) (St. 623, 624, 626) (Fig. 14) - NP1 Mediterranean species, in Italy recorded only from Sicily (D’Urso, 1995b). In Apulia, we collec- ted it only in spring. It was found in a olive grove near the Natural Reserve “Le Cesine”, and in the Natural Park “Bosco e Paludi di Rauccio” in a ruderal place and on so me small clearings. Probably the species is widespread and not uncommon in southern Italy, but until now it was never found because of its particular life cycle: adults occur only in the early (and late?) parts of the year. Parapotes reticulatus (Horvath, 1 8 9 7 ) (St. 563 ) (Fig. 22) - N I The discovery of this species in Apulia was quite unexpected. It is distributed in several coun- tries of central, northern and southeastern Europe, including Ex-Yugoslavia. As host plants are recor- ded Schoenoplectus lacustris (L .) Palla and possibly S. tabernaemontani (Gmei.) Paiia (Nickel, 2003 ). A quite abundant population of this species was found in the lagoon area of the Natural Reserve “Le Cesine”, on Schoenoplectus lacustris. Adarrus reductus (M elichar, 1 897) (St. 56 1, 564, 627) (Fig. 15) The species is described from Croatia. In Italy it is recorded only from Apulia (Servadei, 1967). It was collected in two very dry stony garigue like sites (south of Bosco diRauccio and near Porto Badisco). Calamotettix taeniatus (Horvath, 191 1 ) (St. 562) (Fig. 23) - NI The species is recorded from central and eastern Europe. In Apulia, it was found on the shore of the Pantano Grande in the Natural Reserve “Le Cesine” on its host plant, Phragmites australis, in moder- ately high abundance. CONCLUSIONS During our research in Apulia 84 A uchenor- rhyncha species were found on the whole. Four species ( Delphax meridionalis, Delphacodes capnodes , Parapotes reticulatus and Calamotettix taeniatus ) are recorded for the first time for Italy, five ( Stenokelisia angusta , Euides basilinea , Chloriona glaucescens, Hecalus storai and Melil- laia desbrochersi) are new records for the A pennine Peninsula (“S” in the checklist of the Italian fauna), and 2 6 are new records for Apulia ( Kelisia gUt- tulifera , Stenocranus fuscovittatus, Eurysanoides rubripes , Delphax inermis , Chloriona sicula , Laodelphax striatella, Florodelphax leptosoma , Toya propinqua, Flastena fumipennis , Trypeti- morpha sp ., Ommatidiotus dissimilis, Stegelytra cf. erythroneura, Empoasca alsiosa , Lindbergina ( Youngiada ) sp., Ribautiana tenerrima , Eupteryx thoulessi , Zyginidia adamczewskii. Balclutha ni- colasi, B. rosea, Macrosteles ossiannilssoni, Varta rubrostriata , Synophropsis lauri, Cicadula lineato- punctata, Euscelis alsius, Paralimnus phragmitis, Arthaldeus striifrons ) . The high number of new records for Apulia, and the fact that some of these records regard species that are widespread and quite common throughout Italy, show that the knowledge on this region is presently very scarce. In addition to the here presented data, many further research is necessary to achieve to a sufficient understanding of the A uchenorrhy ncha fauna in southeastern Italy. Even if the three studied areas furnished very im portant results, w e are far from aN approximately complete knowledge on the Auchenorrhyncha of these areas. Additional in vestigations should include more localities, biotopes and collecting seasons. The distribution of some taxa collected during our recent study in Apulia is particularly interesting: Apparently these species are present only in the Balkan region and in South Italy. Delphax ITieridi- Onalis was considered an endemic species of Remarks on the composition of the Auchenorrhyncha fauna in some moist areas in Southern Apulia (Italy) 32 1 Greece before it was discovered in Apulia; AdciVVUS redliCtliS is recorded only from Croatia and Apulia; and Zyginidia cidcunczc wskii is known fro m Croatia, Greece and South Italy (Campania, Apulia). In con- trast to these three cases, other taxa display a wide distribution in Europe. In Italy, however, they were found until now only in Apulia and not in the cent- ral and northern parts of this country. This group in- cludes Pentastiridius suezensis , Calamotettix taeniatus. Parapotes reticulatus and Delphacodes capnodes. we may add Chloriona glaucescens as well, a halophilous species, the record of which from Trentino Alto Adige (Servadei, 1967) is probably erroneous. A molecular study of these species in order to clarify the relation ships between populations from central Europe, southern Italy and the Balkan region would be very interesting. Unlike most other regions of Italy, a great part of Apulia consists of plains and low hills, which nowadays are almost completely cultivated. Thus, moist habitats (freshwater lakes or springs and brackish lagoons), and the dry maquis and garigue areas, have become extremely rare and harbour the last relics of a flora and fauna, which in former times were typical for the whole region, but are now nearly extinct. The protection at least of the few natural sites left is therefore of particular impor- tance. Each of the three investigated areas has its own special characteristics, each is unique but fragile and vulnerable. In the case of the Natural Park of “Bosco e Paludi di Rauccio” we observed some negative im- pact of agricultural activity on the protected area. Whereas the central QuCVCUS UcX forest and the Specchia della Milogna area in the northeastern sector of the reserve display more or less safe conditions, there are other zones around the forest and above all in the southwestern partof the Natural Park that seem to be conspicuously compromised. Apparently, the main problem consists in frequent arsons of vast extension, easily visible in recently burnt CareX meadows, but also in green areas where a glance at the soil between the fresh grasses re- vealed everywhere the black charred remnants of the plants burnt in the years before. The almost completely black colouration of populations of Lepyronia coleoptrata specimens in these areas may be interpreted as adaptive character to these particular conditions (a similar case is documented in Philaenus spumarius fro nr Great Britain (Wilson, p e r s . comm.). Finally we point out the interesting area south of Bosco di Rauccio, off the Natural Park (St. 555, 561, 627). This site, consisting of quite extended wet meadows and reeds along a central channel and adjacent dry garigues, has a great value for plants, birds and insects. We think it very import- ant to warrant the conservation of this habitat as a highly valuable addition to the nearby located N atural P ark . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are grateful to Carmine A n n ic c h iaric o for his help concerning the collecting permission in the Natural Reserve “Le Cesine”. We thank Vittorio De Vitis for useful advice and information during our research in the Natural Park “Bosco e Paludi di Rauccio”. Many thanks also to Massimo Vollaro and Gemot Kunz for the photos. REFERENCES Asche M ., 1985. Zur Phylogenie der Delphacidae Leach, 1815 (Homoptera Cicadina F u lg o ro m o rp h a ) . M arburger Entom ologische Publikationen,2: 1-910. Castellani O ., 1 95 3. Contributo alia conocenza della fauna em itterologica d’ltalia. Hemiptera Homoptera. Bollettino dellaAssociazione romana di entom ologia, 7: 15-16. Della Giustina W. & Remane R., 1991. La Faune de France des Delphacidae (Homoptera Auchenor- rhyncha). I. Recoltes d’aout 1 9 89. Cahiers des N a t u ra lis te s , Bulletin des Naturalistes Parisiens, 47: 33-44. Drosopoulos S., Asche M. & Hoch H., 1986. A prelimary list and some notes on the Cicadomorpha (Ho- moptera - Auchenorrhyncha) collected in Greece. Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress Concerning the Rhynchota fauna of Balkan and adjacent Regions, pp. 8-13. D’Urso V., 1 995a. Homoptera Auchenorrhyncha. In: M in e Hi, A ., Ruffo, S. & La Posta, S. (Eds.), Checklist delle specie della fauna italiana, 42: 1-35. D’Urso V., 1995b. Contributo alia conoscenza della distribuzione in Italia di alcune specie di A uchenor- rinchi (Insecta Rhynchota: Homoptera). N aturalista siciliano, ser. IV, 1 9: 99-104. D’Urso V. & Guglielmino A., 1 995. Arthropoda di Lampedusa, Linosa e Pantelleria (Canale di Sicilia, Mar M e d ite rra n e o ) . Homoptera Auchenorrhyncha. Naturalista siciliano, 19 (Suppl.): 279-30 1. 322 Adalgisa Guglielmino & Christoph Buckle Guglielmino A., 1993. I Cicadellidi dell’Etna. Studio tassonom ico e note ecologiche e b io g e o g ra fic h e (Homoptera A u c h e n o rrh y n c h a ) . Memorie della Societa Entomologica Italiana, 72: 49-1 62. Guglielmino A. & Buckle C., 2007. Contributo alia conoscenza della fauna ad A uchenorrhyncha (Hemip- tera, Fulgorom orpha et C ic a d o m o rp h a) di Liguria e dell’Italia meridionale. Frustula Entomologica, n.s. 30: 149-159. Guglielmino A., Buckle C. & Remane R ., 2005. Contri- bution to the knowledge of the A uchenorrhyncha fauna of Central Italy (Hemiptera, F u lg o ro m o rp h a et C ic a d o m o rp h a ) . Marburger E n to m o lo g is c h e P ub lik atio n e n , 3: 13-98. Guglielmino A., D’Urso V. & Alma A., 2000. Contri- bution to the knowledge of A uchenorrhyncha (Insecta Homoptera) from Sardinia (Italy). Deutsche Entomo- logische Zeitschrift, 47: 161-172. 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The Leafhoppers and Planthoppers of Germany (Hemiptera, A uchenorrhyncha): Patterns and strategies in a highly diverse group of phyto- phagous insects. Pensoft, Sofia, 460 pp. Osella G . & Pagliano-Osella M ., 1989. Studi sulla palude del Busatello (Veneto-Lombardia) 9. Gli Omotteri A uchenorr inchi. M em orie del M useo Civico di Storia Naturale, 7: 89-97. Ribaut H ., 1 952. Homopteres A uchenorhinques. II. (Jassidae). Faune de France. Paris, 57, 474 pp. ServadeiA., 1967. Rhynchota (Heteroptera, Homoptera A uchenorrhyncha). Fauna d’ltalia, volume IX, Calderini Editore, Bologna, 85 1 pp. Servadei A., 1 96 8. Contributo alia corologia dei Rhynchota Homoptera Auchenorrhyncha d’ltalia. Annali M useo Civico di Storia Naturale "Giacomo Doria", 7 7: 1 3 8- 1 8 3. Van Stalle J., 1991. Taxonomy of Indo-M alayan Penta- stirini (Homoptera, Cixiidae). Bulletin de l’Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Entomo- logie, 61 : 5-101 . Vidano C., 1982. 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Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 323-326 Monograph Presence's mapping of Brachytrupes megacephalus (Lefebvre, 1827) (Orthoptera Gryllidae) within the Natural Reserve of Vendicari (Noto, Siracusa, Italy) Alfredo Petralia 1 *, Ettore Petralia 2 , Giorgio Sabella 3 , Filadelfo Brogna 4 & Corrado Bianca 1 *Ente Fauna Siciliana Onlus, Noto, Italy 2 Sud & Dintomi Onlus, Catania, Italy; Studio Oikos, Catania, Italy ’Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, sez. Biologia Animale, Catania University, Italy 4 Regione Siciliana, Dipartimento Azienda Regionale Foreste Demaniali, Siracusa, Italy ’Corresponding author, e-mail: alfredo.petralia@yahoo.it ABSTRACT Brachytrupes megacephalus (Lefebvre, 1827) (Orthoptera Gryllidae) is a species included in the Annexes II and IV of EU Directive 92/43 as taxon requiring strict protection. The authors summarize the researches aimed to recognize the localization of this species within the natural reserve of Vendicari, protected area along the south eastern Sicilian coast in the territory of Noto (province of Siracusa). The presence of the specimens was ascertained by detecting its holes on the soil surface. The holes position was recorded using GPS and utilized for mapping the presence of the species as tool for its protection management in the reserve territory. KEY WORDS monitoring; wildlife management; protected areas; mapping. Received 25.07.2014; accepted 30.11.2014; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6th- 1 8th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION The Brachytrupes megacephalus (Lefebvre, 1827) (Orthoptera Gryllidae) (Figs. 1, 2), described on specimens from Sicily, is a South-Mediterranean species widespread in the sandy environments of Sicily, Aeolian Islands, Maltese Islands, southern Sardinia, Northern Africa (included the Saharan oases): it is an exclusively sandy adapted cricket. This species is considered as a biodiversity ele- ment of particular interest thanks to its complex eco-biology. Previous works (see Conti et al., 2014) investigated the biological cycle, swimming ability and digging technique, reproductive mode, coupling pattern and more. Due to its current rar- efaction in Europe, this species has been included in the Annexes II and IV of EU Directive 92/43 as a species requiring strict protection. The reserve of Vendicari lies in the south- eastern extremity of Sicily and is part of a vast wetlands system that is one of the most important of the island; it extends for about 8 km of coastline and 0.3- 1.5 km inland and includes a series of dif- ferent environments (sweet-water wetlands, coastal lagoons, garrigue scrubland, Mediterranean ma- quis) and a very rich biodiversity: a wide descrip- tion of the reserve was edited by Petralia (2010). B. megacephalus , having been already monitored in Vendicari a little bit more than ten years ago (Petralia et al., 2003), is one of the main com- ponent of the artropodological fauna in the reserve (Petralia & Russo, 2010). 324 Alfredo Petralia etalii This research was aimed to map the localization of the species in order to provide basic information useful to manage the protection of the species itself. The study was carried out during the breeding season (from March to early May of 2012) when the digging activity of the specimens (surface active again after the winter suspension, for mate) is particularly intense and easily detectable: the location of individuals was carried out by detecting the position of the holes that the animals burrow into the sand and where the animals remain for most of their life, also where they die after spawning. The traces that indicate the presence of the animals are two (Figs. 3,4): the mouths of the burrows and the little sandy cones occluding those; also the piercing sound-calls emitted by the males to attract the females provide further information about the presence of individuals. The survey in the reserve was conducted in the sandy sectors of the A zone (integral reserve) in the potential habitats for the presence of B. megacepha- lus (Figs. 5, 6). The concerned areas are: 1, the mouth of the Tellaro river (Eloro) at the extreme north of the reserve; 2, the sandy dunes of Calam- osche; 3, the sandy south western area of the Vendi- cari island; 4, the southern dune belt where the GPS position of each detected burrow was recorded. RESULTS AND COMMENTS The presence of the species was ascertained within the areas marked with numbers 1 and 4 (Fig. 6). In the latter the GPS burrow records (290 in 18 ha) allowed to obtain the representation of the area were the species localizes (Fig. 7) using gvSIG program: the animals dwell exclusively on the sandy belt and do not intrude both the sandy beach (seaward) and inland; it is also possible to observe particular concentrations of burrows in the extreme north of the sandy belt (Fig. 8). In the Vendicari island were not found speci- mens of the monitored species. Probably that is due Figures 1, 2. Specimens of B. megacephalus photographed before their release: on the male's forewings (Fig. 1) is visible the stridulatory organ, absent on the female (Fig. 2). Figures 3, 4. Examples of burrow's mouth of B. megacephalus (Fig. 3) and little sandy cone that close the burrow on the soil surface (Fig. 4) (Photos by A. Petralia). Presence's mapping of Brachytrupes megacephalus within the Natural Reserve of Vendicari (Noto, Siracusa, Italy) 325 Figure 5. Localization (jellow star) of the reserve of Vendicari along the south western Sicilian coast. Figure 6. In dark-green the A zone of the reserve, in light-green the B zone; 1 to 4 the potential habitats of B. megacephalus. A i\ VJft I r marshes ■ v "i t yi y | -i. sea Figure 7. Mapping of the B. megacephalus presence along the dune belt in the southern part of the reserve of Vendicari. to the not good condition of the sandy habitat: too narrow extension of the sandy surface in the island, too windy and not protected because of scarce vegetation, too brackish. Also in the area marked with number 2 (Calam- osche) the species was not detected: it is important to emphasize that in the previous monitoring carried out in 2003 (Petralia et al., 2003) the species was present in these sandy dunes. Probably the disap- pearance here of this species can be related with the strong anthropic pressure on the dunes just behind the beach of Calamosche: in particular the anarchic trampling on the sand (and the consequent destruc- tion of nests, eggs and young specimens of B. megacephalus especially during the early stages of development) to reach the beach for swimming in the summer months, which increased over time, could have acted as a decisive factor in habitat degradation and, as consequence, in disappearance of the species. We can conclude that the protection of B. mega- cephalus depends on a very severe protection of the stability of his habitat. The results of the mapping here described, indicate the areas in which is oppor- tune to concentrate the actions aimed to ensure the safeguard of the species: firstly a veiy strict prevention 326 Alfredo Petralia etalii Figure 8. Northern sector of the dune belt referred to the Fig. 4 to show the particular concentra- tions of burrows highlighted by red dots. Figure 9. Calamosche in winter (photo by www.temioggi.it) and in summer (Figure 10, photo by www.itineraricamper.it): the very heavy human pressure on the beach in summer could had gen- erated negative effects on the conditions for the survival of B. megacephalus in the back dunes, from which the species has dis- appeared. of the trampling (by humans and by cars) on the dune, given its destructive effects on the sandy hab- itat integrity. The Calamosche situation (Figs. 9, 10) (in par- ticular the disappearance of the species in this area) represents in this sense a clear warning signal that induces a very careful control in the Eloro area (num- ber 1 in Fig. 6) and along the dune belt also exposed to trampling in violation of the protection rules provided for the A area where the dunes are located. REFERENCES Conti E., Costa G., Petralia A. & Petralia E., 2014. Eco-ethology of Brachytrupes megacephalus (Orthoptera, Gryllidae), protected specie in UE. In: Petralia A. & Bianca C. (Eds.), 2nd Djerba Interna- tional Mediterranean Environment Sustainability Conference, Djerba Tunisia, 22-25. April 2012, Proceedings. © Atti e Memorie dell'Ente Fauna Siciliana, 11: 51-56. Petralia A. (a cura di), 2010. L'area protetta di Vendicari. Atti del Convegno celebrativo per il 35° anno di fondazione dell'Ente Fauna Siciliana, "Case Citta- della", Vendicari-Noto (SR) 25-26 ottobre 2008. © Ente Fauna Siciliana (supplemento a Grifone), 432 pp. Petralia A. & Russo C., 2010. Artropodofauna e biowatching. In: Petralia A. (a cura di) - L'area protetta di Vendicari. Atti del Convegno celebrativo per il 35° anno di fondazione dell'Ente Fauna Siciliana, Vendicari-Noto (SR) 25-26 ottobre 2008, © Ente Fauna Siciliana (supplemento a Grifone), pp. 209-226. Petralia A., Russo C. & Cartarrasa S., 2003. Topology of Brachytrupes megacephalus (Lefebvre, 1827) (Orthoptera, Gryllidae) in some Sicilian Natural re- serves. Proceedings Fifth International Symposium on GIS and Computer Cartography for Coastal Zone Management, Genova, 2003. Biodiversity Journal, 2014, 5 (4): 327-340 Monograph First purposive study of beetles (Coleoptera) from endogean environments in Bulgaria: collection sites and preliminary results Rostislav Bekchiev & Borislav Gueorguiev National Museum of Natural History, 1 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria; e-mails: bekchiev@nmnhs.com; bobivg@yahoo.com jj* Corresponding author ABSTRACT So far, special attention to the endogean and MSS (Mesovoid Shallow Substratum) fauna was not paid in Bulgaria, though typical subterranean species of the Coleoptera have been described. The aim of present study is to put on record the results of a broad-scale study of the coleopteran fauna from the MSS and lower (euedaphic) soil horizons in the country. We carried out invest- igations in the period April 2006-July 2014, manly in the Vitosha Mt., Pirin Mt., Stara Planina Mts., Slavyanka Mt., Belasitsa Mt., Erma and Kresna Gorge, Western Rhodopes Mts., and Srednagora Mts. For the time being, material from the following families was identified to the genus and species levels: Anobiidae, Aphodiidae, Carabidae, Clambidae, Corylophidae, Curculionidae, Endomychidae, Histeridae, Leiodidae, Monotomidae, Scyrtidae, Silvanidae, Silphidae, Staphylinidae (Pselaphinae) and Zopheridae. We report for the first time the sub- genus A ntisphodrus Schaufuss, 1865 (Carabidae) and Zustalestus Reitter, 1912 (Curculionidae) from Bulgaria. Blemus discus discus (Fabricius, 1792) is recorded for the second time from the country. KEY WORDS Coleoptera; endogean and MSS fauna; Bulgaria; news records. Received 13.12.2014; accepted 01.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6th- 1 8th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION The superficial, cave and hemiedaphic inver- tebrate fauna in Bulgaria has been an object of comprehensive investigations for almost 120 years already. In the same time still very little is known about invertebrates living in the lower soil layers (so called euedaphic or endogeic environments) and especially in the network of fissures and crevices in the maternal rock below the soil horizon. The latter environment is usually referred to as Mesovoid Shallow Substratum (MMS), according to the works of Juberthie et al. (1980, 1981), or superficial subterranean habitats (SSHs), according to Culver & Pipan (2008). In regard to the Cole- optera, it seems that this specific environment has been widely discussed by southwest Europe authors (Ruffo, 1959; Laneyrie, 1960; Coiffait, 1963) prior to its formal introduction by Juberthie et al. (1980). At present, at least four basic types of MSS habitats are discriminated (Juberthie, 2000, Ortuno et al., 2013), based on different combinations of abiotic and biotic factors. Typical endogeic species can be found in most of the soil-dwelling groups of Arthropoda: the Lower insects (Japygidae), beetles (Carabidae, Leiodidae), myriapods (Diplopoda, Chilopoda), isopods (Isopoda), spiders (Araneae), etc. 328 Rostislav Bekchiev & Borislav Gueorguiev Undoubtedly, one of the most interesting groups among them are the beetles represented by a relat- ively high number of endemic species. Special at- tention to the endogean and MSS fauna in Bulgaria has been paid only recently (Deltchev et al., 2011; Langourov et al., 2014). Typical endogean or hypogean beetles, excluding those collected in caves and precipices, were found occasionally (Knirsh, 1930; Genest & Juberthie, 1983; Genest, 1983; Hurka, 1990; Janak & Moravec, 2008). The aim of present study is to put on record the results of a broad-scale study of the coleopteran fauna inhabiting MSS and lower (euedaphic) soil horizons in Bulgaria. Here we give a list of the collecting localities and a register of the taxa found in the different sites. MATERIAL AND METHODS The investigation was carried out in the period April 2006- July 2014, manly in the Vitosha Mt., Pirin Mt., Stara Planina Mts., Slavyanka Mts., Belasitsa Mt., Erma and Kresna Gorge, Western Rhodopes Mts., and Sredna gora Mts (Fig. 1., Table 1). The traps were made from PVC pipe with diameter of the holes 8 cm and length of 60 and 80 cm. One hundred and eight holes were drilled on each pipe, at 10 cm distance from its end. Traps were put into 60 or 80 cm deep hole dug as deep as the limestone or silicate layer. Ten centimeters high plastic cup tied to polythene rope, and filled with solution of ethilenglycol or ethilenglycol with few drops of formalin was put into the end of the pipe. Traps were covered by solid plastic covers in order to avoid penetration of superficial fauna into the pipe and infiltration of water during heavy rains. In some cases we also used olphactory attractant (fish). The identificationof the taxa has been made as fol- lows: Curculionidae (Luigi Magnano), Histeridae (Evgeni Chehlarov), Pselaphinae (first author), and all other families (second author). BULGARIA Plovdiv MACEDONIA Vania BLACK SEA TURKEY Sea of Marmara Figure 1. Distribution of localities with MSS traps in Bulgaria. First purposive study of beetles (Coleoptera) from endogean environments in Bulgaria: collection sites and preliminary results 329 TRAP NO. DATE OF SETTING SITE DESCRIPTION LENGTH OF TUBE V-N-l 29.IV.2006 Vitosha Mts., northern slope, above Boyana, Boyanski kamak place, at the bottom of a 4-5 m deep microcave; dry, alt. 847 m. 70 cm V-N-2&3 30.IV.2006 Vitosha Mts., northern slope, two traps set ca. 30-35 m above Boyanski kamak, in a scree in mixed forest of Fagus silvestris and Carpinus betulus; alt. 847 m. 60 cm V-E-l 13.V.2006 Vitosha Mts., eastern slope, approx. 28 km south of Sofia, on the road Sofia- Samokov, Yarema place; forest of Fagus sylvatica, in a brown soil, humid, close to a small river, alt. 1363 m 80 cm V-W-l 10.VI.2006 Vitosha Mts., western slope, village of Bosnek, near the cave Duhlata, karst, stony substrate mixed with clay, alt. 964 m 80 cm V-W-2 24.VI.2006 Vitosha Mts., western slope, village of Bosnek, near the cave Duhlata, karst, stony substrate, clay, alt. 992 m 60 cm V-W-3 24.VI.2006 Vitosha Mts., western slope, village of Bosnek, near the cave Duhlata, karst, stony substrate, clay, alt. 992 m 70 cm V-SL-1-2 06.VI.2013 Vitosha Mts., Bosnek Vill., near Akademik cave, N 42°29'28.28" E 23°11T8.28" 60 cm V-SL-3 06.V1.20 13 Vitosha Mts., Bosnek Vill., scree on the road to Chuipetlyovo 60 cm V-SL-4 06.VI.2013 Bosnek Vill., Popov Izvor Karst spring 60 cm V-SL-5 02.X.2013 Bosnek Vill., near Pepelyankata Cave 60 cm V-SL-6 02.X.2013 Bosnek Vill., near Duhlata Cave 80 cm BK-mssl 29.IV.2006 Vitosha Mt., above Boyana, Boyanski kamak place, at the bottom of a 4-5 m deep microcave; dry, alt. 847 m. 80 cm Du-mss4 24.VI.2006 Vitosha Mt., near Bosnek Village, near Duhlata Cave, karst, stony substrate, clay, alt. 992 m 80 cm P-W-2 7.V.2006 Pirin Mts., western slope, above village of Ilindentsi, Zandana Area, karst, in a scree, dry soil/ sandy substrate, alt. 492 m 70 cm P-W-4 14.V.2006 Pirin Mts., western slope, village of Gradeshnitsa, near Gradeshnichka banya, at the base of stony/ sandy cliff, dry, sandy/ stony substrate, alt. 312 m 60 cm P-N-l 24.V.2006 Pirin Mts., northern slope, approx. 6 km before Predela Area, humid ravine, Fagus sylvatica forest, at the base of Fagus tree, thick layer of leaf litter, humid soil mixed with stones, alt. 676 m, 60 cm P-N-2 24.V.2006 Pirin Mts., northern slope, approx. 6 km before Predela Area, humid ravine, Fagus silvatica forest, humid soil and gravel, alt. 676 m 80 cm P-E-1&2 25.V.2006 Pirin Mts., eastern slope, 3 km before village of Gospodintsi, Gotse Deltshev District, approx. 30 m away of the main road Bansko-Gotse Deltshev and approx. 5-6 m of a small river; in scree at the base of a limestone rocks, close to broad-leaf tree; alt. 585 m 60 cm P-S-l 25.V.2006 Pirin Mts., southern slope, approx. 900 m after Popovi livadi Hut on the main road Gotse Deltshev-Katuntsi, ca. 40-50 m away of the road, marble stone debris on a small meadow; alt. 1367 m 50 cm P-S-2&3 18.VI.2006 Pirin Mts., southern slope, approx. 1700 m away of the main road Gotse Deltshev-Katuntsi, on the secondary road to Orelyak Peak; in a small valley, Fagus forest, alt. 1560 m 60 cm Table 1. Distribution of localities with MSS traps in Bulgaria (continued). 330 Rostislav Bekchiev & Borislav Gueorguiev TRAP NO. DATE OF SETTING SITE DESCRIPTION LENGTH OF TUBE P-S-4&5 8.VL2006 Pirin Mts., southern slope, St. Iliya Site near village of Kalimantsi; close to the chapel, under the venerable Quercus coccifera trees, alt. 494 m 60 cm P-S-6 27.VI.2006 Pirin Mts., southern slope, Peshtemik Site near village of Kalimantsi; against the large travertine, under the double willow, alt. 380 m 70 cm P-S-7 27.VI.2006 Pirin Mts., southern slope, Peshtemik Site near village of Kalimantsi; close to the large travertine, in a smaller travertine, under a hazel bush 60 cm WR-1 23.IV.2006 West Rhodopes Mts., central parts, approx. 1 100 m after the crossroad to village of Borovo towards village of Belitsa; on the left side of the road, in a small rocky valley, overgrown with bushes and Pinus nigra, ca. 50 m of the road, alt. 657 m 55 cm WR-2 23.IV.2006 West Rhodopes Mts., central parts, approx. 1100 m after the crossroad to village of Borovo towards village of Belitsa; on the left side of the road, in a small rocky valley, overgrown with bushes and Pinus nigra, ca. 100 m of the road, alt. 666 m 80 cm WR-3&4 23.IV.2006 West Rhodopes Mts., central parts, on the way to village of Belitsa; narrow valley on the right side of the road, ca. 80 m of the road, Pinus nigra and deciduous bushes, alt. 666-668 m 60 cm WR-5 14.VII.2007 West Rhodopes Mts., southern parts, near village of Koshnitsa, below the cave Uhlovitsa; right slope, above the trek, at the foot of hornbeam bushes, not far from a old beech tree, humid and shady place, gravels in the soil, alt. 928 m 80 cm EG-1&2 11.VI.2006 Rui Mts., Erma Gorge, ca. 30 m before the tunnel, on the slope over- grown with hazel bush, ash-trees; rocky substrate, at the foot of rocks; 685 m 60 cm SP-1 6.VI.2006 Stara Planina Mts., Toplya Site near village of Golyama Zhelyazna; ca. 20 m of the entrance of Toplya Cave; ca. 25-30 m of the river; karst slope overgrown with scarce bushes and deciduous trees; 460 m 70 cm SP-2 7.VI.2006 Stara Planina Mts., Toplya Site near village of Golyama Zhelyazna; ca. 5 m of the entrance of Yalovitsa Cave; karst slpe inca. 25-30 m of the river; karst slope in young Quercus forest; 608 m 50 cm S-l 4.VII.2006 Slavyanka Mts., Livade Site near village of Goleshevo in Alibotush Reserve; karst slope in Pinus forest; ca. 1700 m, N 41°23'532" E 23°36'307" 60 cm SG-1 29.IV.2006 Sredna gora Mts., St. Ivan Site near Panagyurishte, abandoned vineyard overgrown with scattered Prune trees and blackberries in close proximity to forest of Pinus nigra', deep soil layer, lower horizon mixed with stones, 584 m 100 cm SG-2 29.IV.2006 Sredna gora Mts., same coordinates and site description; situated ca. 30 m apart of SG- 1 . 60 cm SG-3 29.IV.2006 Sredna gora Mts., situated ca. 30 m apart of SG-1. Trap set in young artificial forest of Pinus nigra; brown forest soil mixed with stones; 5-7 cm thick layer of pine needles 80 cm SG-4 29.IV.2006 Sredna gora Mts., same coordinates and site description; trap is situated ca. 10 m apart of SG-3. Trap set in young artificial forest of Pinus nigra; brown forest soil mixed with stones; 5-7 cm thick layer of pine needles 60 cm DH-1&2 10.V.2007 Derventsky Heights, village of Dennitsa, crossroad to Stefan Karadzhovo, Yambol District, sink-hole in Quercus forest, at the base of a big stone; alt. 365 m 60 cm Table 1 (continued). Distribution of localities with MSS traps in Bulgaria. First purposive study of beetles (Coleoptera) from endogean environments in Bulgaria: collection sites and preliminary results 331 RESULTS Up to now, material from the following families was identified to genus and/or species level: Anobiidae, Aphodiidae, Carabidae, Clambidae, Corylophidae, Curculionidae, Endomychidae, Histeridae, Leiodidae, Monotomidae, Scyrtidae, Silvanidae, Silphidae, Staphylinidae (Pselaphinae), and Zopheridae (Table 2). DISCUSSION Carabidae Thirty one ground-beetle taxa at the species level were collected in the traps. Eight of them, in- cluding one undescribed species from the genus Laemostenus, are Balkan endemic species. The sub- genus Antisphodrus Schaufuss, 1 865 is a new taxon to the fauna of Bulgaria. So far, no species of this group was known from the core area of the Balkan Peninsula. Antisphodrus display scattered distribu- tion in the Northern Mediterranean as its species occur from Spain in the west to Iran in the east. They have restricted distribution by loci and are confined to endogean and hypogean, primarily lime- stone habitats. The only female specimen we col- lected from this subgenus belongs to a new species for the science. Currently, the description of this form is prevented for the lack of enough material. The ground-beetles collected might be divided condicionally in three categories in view of their de- gree of specialization to underground way of life. The first group includes three true endogean species. Trechus subacuminatus and Laemostenus ( Antisphodrus ) sp. are hither to found only in the MSS-niche in Bulgaria. The two species are partly depigmented, and possess small, but functioning eyes. With certainty, both are very rare and strictly localized everywhere since they were not caught before using the standart methods of collecting. To the same group belongs also Duvalius regisborisi, which formerly was found only in caves. It is an eyeless beetle well-adapted to life in the under- ground environment. The second group contains seven species (. Blemus discus discus , Laemostenus cimmerius weiratheri, L. plasoni, L. terricola punctatus, Trechus austriacus, T. irenis, and T. sub- notatus),thQ most of them found repeatedly in caves but now also caught in MSS-traps. That category occupies an intermediate position between the eu- eadiphic (endogean) species and the soil-inhabiting species. The separation of this group is evidenced from their frequency and number of individuals found in the MSS-traps we put. The third group includes edaphic (or soil) species, which are primarily forest dwellers. This species complex is the dominant one with respect to the number of species-twenty species from fiftheen genera (Table 2). Most of those species are forest dwellers, except for Bembidion dalmatinus and Syntomus pallipes , which are char- acteristic of open and ecotone habitats. It is worth noting that the dominant species in the MSS-traps in the Vitosha Mt. is Aptinus bombarda. We did not find it in the traps put in other places. Blemus discus discus is recorded here for the second time for the country (see Hieke & Wrase, 1988). Leiodidae Twenty three taxa of the species level from Leiodidae have been identified till now. This figure excludes the species of Colon Herbst, 1797 and Leiodes Latreille, 1796 which identification is still unaccomplished. The most typical example of the MSS -environment is the endogean Guerguievella petrovi. This very small, blind and depigmented beetle belongs to a monotypic genus and species that was discovered not long ago (Giachino & Gueor- guiev, 2007).The type series of this species includes three dozens of specimens made available by hand- collecting in six separate visits of the Kraypatnata Peshtera” Cave near Smilyan Village. The visits were carried out in the period 1962-2004. Recently, we collected Guerguievella petrovi twice in MSS-traps in a mass, as the samples signi- ficantly differ to each other in the number of indi- viduals. The first sample, exposed in the dry summer-autumn season, contained three specimens, while the next one, exposed in the wet autumn- winter season, contained more than 60 specimens. The cholevine species, like Choleva angusara, C. glauca, Nargus badius, Ptomaphagus sericatus, and Sciodrepoides watsoni, are detritophagous. They are sometimes collected in caves in Bulgaria and now they were found in MSS-traps. Other species, such as the leiodines ( Agathidium spp., Hydnobius spp., Leiodes spp.), eat fungi and live above the ground or underground (Newton, 1998). 332 Rostislav Bekchiev & Borislav Gueorguiev Family Species and subspecies Trap No. Collection date References 1 Familia ANOB1IDAE Ptinus sp. V-N-l P-W-2 P-S-4&5 30.4-3.6.2006 7.5.-18.6.2006 7.12.2006-19.4.2007 Present paper 2 Familia APHODIIDAE Ataenius horticola Harold, 1869 -Fig. 2. P-W-2 14.05.-6.07.2006 Gueorguiev & Bekchiev, 2009 3 Oxyomus sylvestris (Scopoli, 1763) P-W-4 7.05.-18.06.2006 Present paper 4 Familia CARAB1DAE Abax ( Abacopercus ) carinatus carinatus (Duftschmid, 1812) SP-2; V-N-2 P-N-l; V-SL-4 6.6.-6.9.2006; 30.4.- 3.6.2006; 7.9.2006; 6.6-02.10.2013 Langourov et al., 2014; present paper 5 Amara (s.str.) saphyrea Dejean, 1828 SG-1 SG-2 29.4.-29.5.2006 28.12.2006-20.04.2007 Present paper 6 Aptinus (s.str.) bombarda (Illiger, 1800) V-N-l V-N-2&3 3.6.-25.7.2006; 30.4.- 3.6.2006; 5.11.2006- 6.6.2007 Langourov et al., 2014 7 Bembidion ( Peryphanes ) dalmatinum dalmatinum Dejean, 1831 V-SL-3 6.6-2.10.2013 Langourov et al., 2014 8 Blemus discus discus (Fabricius, 1792) - Fig. 3 V-SL-4 6.6-2.10.2013 Langourov et al., 2014 9 Carabus ( Procrustes ) coriaceus cerisyi Dejean, 1826 SG-1 6.8.2006-18.11.2006 Present paper 10 Cychrus semigranosus balcanicus Hopffgarten, 1881 V-SL-3 6.6-2.10.2013 Langourov et al., 2014 11 Duvalius ( Paraduvalius ) regisborisi (Buresch, 1926) SP-1 6.6.-6.9.2006 Present paper 12 Harpalus (s.str.) atratus Latreille, 1804 SP-2 6.6.-6.9.2006 13 Laemostenus (Actenipus) plasoni ( Reitter, 1885) P-N-l P-S-l P-S-2&3 7.9.2006- 3.7.2007; 9.2006- 4.7.2007; 4.7.-17.10.2007 Present paper 14 Laemostenus ( Antisphodrus ) sp. EG-1&2 25.06.-2.12.2006 Present paper; new subgenus to the fauna of Bulgaria 15 Laemostenus ( Pristony - chus) cimmerius weira- theri J. Muller, 1 932 V-SL-1-2 V-SL-4 6.6- 2.11.2013; 6.6- 2.10.2013 Langourov et al., 2014 16 Laemostenus ( Pristony - chus) terricola punctatus (Dejean, 1828) V-N-l; V-N-l; V-W-2; V-W-3; SG-4; BK-mssl Du-mss4 3.06. -25.7.2006; 5.11.2006-6.6.2007; 26.8. -3.12.2006; 26.8.2006; 6.8. -18.9.2006; 3.06. -25.07.2006 26.08. -3.12.2006 Langourov et al., 2014 and present paper 17 Leistus ( Pogonophorus ) rufomarginatus (Duftschmid, 1812) V-SL-4 6.6-2.10.2013 Langourov et al., 2014 Table 2 (1/6). List of the registered edaphicolous and hypogeicolous Coleoptera from MSS- traps. First purposive study of beetles (Coleoptera) from endogean environments in Bulgaria: collection sites and preliminary results 333 Family Species and subspecies Trap No. Collection date References 18 Familia CARAB1DAE Leistus ( Pogonophorus ) spinibarbis rufipes Chaudoir, 1843 V-SL-5 2.11.2013-26.6.2014 Present paper 19 Molops (s.str.) alpestris rhilensis Apfelbeck, 1904 P-N-l P-S-l WR-2 7.9.2006- 3.7.2007; 9.2006- 4.7.2007; 3.4.-9.6.2006 Present paper 20 Molops (s.str.) dilatatus dilatatus Chaudoir, 1 868 WR-1 23.4.2006-9.6.2006 Present paper 21 Molops (s.str.) piceus bulgaricus Maran, 1938 V-N-2&3 5.11.2006-6.6.2007 Langourov et al., 2014 22 Myas (s.str.) chalybaeus (Palliardi, 1825) SP-2 6.6.-6.9.2006 Present paper 23 Platynus proximus (J. Frivaldszky, 1879) SP-1 06.06.-06.09.2006 Present paper 24 Pterostichus (s.str.) mer- klii (J. Frivaldszky, 1879) SP-1 6.6.-6.9.2006 Present paper 25 Pterostichus (Petrophi- lus) melanarius melana- rius (Illiger, 1798) V-SL-4 V-SL-5 V-SL-6 6.6-2.10.2013; 2.10- 2.11.2013; 2.10- 2.11.2013 Langourov et al., 2014 26 Pterostichus (Platysma) niger (Schaller, 1783) V-N-l V-N-2&3 3.6.-25.7.2006; 5.11.2006-6.6.2007 Langourov et al., 2014 27 Syntomus pallipes (Dejean, 1825) SG-1 29.4.-29.5.2006 Present paper 28 Synuchus vivalis (Illiger, 1798) SG-4 6.8.-18.9.2006 Present paper 29 Tapinopterus (s.str.) balcanicus Ganglbauer, 1891 V-N-l V-N-2 V-N-2 & 3 WR-1 WR-3 & 4 3.6. -25.07.2006; 30.4. -3.6.2006; 5.11.2006-6.6.2007; 9.6. -17.7.2006; 23.4. -9.6.2006 Langourov et al., 2014: present paper 30 Tapinopterus (s.str.) cognatus kalofirensis Maran, 1933 SP-2 6.6.-6.9.2006 Present paper 31 Trechus (s.str.) austriacus Dcjean, 1831 V-W-l P-E-2 SG-1 SG-2 V-SL-1-2 V-SL-4 V-SL-5 24.6.-3.12.2006; 7.9.2006-4.7.2007; 29.4.-29.5.2006; 18.9.-28.12.2006; 6.6-2.11.2013; 2.10- 02.11.2013; 2.10- 02.11.2013 Langourov et al., 2014; present paper 32 Trechus (s.str.) irenis Csiki, 1912 V-SL-4 6.6-2.10.2013 Langourov et al., 2014 33 Trechus (s. str.) subacuminatus A. Fleischer, 1898 EG-1&2 11.06.-25.06.2006/ 2.12.2006-18.04.2007 Present paper New species for Bulgaria. 34 Trechus (s. str.) subnotatus Dejean, 1831 SG-3 18.11.-28.12.2006 Present paper Table 2 (2/6). List of the registered edaphicolous and hypogeicolous Coleoptera from MSS- traps. 334 Rostislav Bekchiev & Borislav Gueorguiev Family Species and subspecies Trap No. Collection date References 35 Familia CLAMBIDAE C Iambus sp. EG-1&2 P-S-4&5 2.12.2006- 8.4.2007; 7.12.2006- 9.4.2007 Present paper 36 Familia CORYLOPH I DAE Sericoderus lateralis (Gyllenhal, 1827) SG-3 20.4.-1.5.2007 Langourov et al., 2014 37 Familia CURCULIONIDAE Acalles sp. P-E-1&2 7.9.2006-4.7.2007 Present paper 38 Brachysomus sp. WR-1 1.4.-25.11.2007 Present paper 39 Dodecastichus geniculatus (Germar, 1817) EG-1&2 25.6.-2.7.2006 Present paper 40 Dodecastichus obsoletus (Stierlin, 1861) EG-1&2 25.6.-2.7.2006 Present paper 41 Otiorhynchus (s.str.) albidus Stierlin, 1861 P-S-4&5 19.8.-15.11.2007; 19.5.-13.7.2007 Present paper 42 Otiorhynchus (s.str.) balcanicus Stierlin, 1861 V-W-3 P-S-4&5 26.8.2006; 23.6.- 7.7.2006; 7.12.2006- 19.4.2007; 13.7. -19.8.2007; 19.8. -15.11.2007 Langourov et al., 2014; present paper 43 Otiorhynchus (s.str.) bisulcatus (Fabricius, 1781) V-W-2 EG-1&2 26.7-26.8.2006; 25.6.-2.7.2006 Langourov et al., 2014; present paper 44 Otiorhynchus (s.str.) coarctatus Stierlin, 1861 V-W-2 26.7.2006 Langourov et al., 2014 45 Otiorhynchus (s.str.) corneolus Weise, 1906 V-W-l V-W-2 V-W-3 EG-1&2 24.6. -3.12.2006; 26.7-26.8.2006; 4-16.6.2007; 25.6. -2.7.2006 Langourov et al., 2014; present paper 46 Otiorhynchus (s.str.) crataegi Germar, 1 824 V-W-2 26.7.2006 Langourov et al., 2014 47 Otiorhynchus (s.str.) juglandis Apfelbeck, 1 895 V-W-2; V-W-3 SG-1 SG-2 P-E-1&2 P-S-2&3 P-S-4&5 WR-3&4 26.7.2006; 26.8.2006; 5-20.8.2007; 29.5- 17.6.2006; 7.9.2006- 4.7.2007; 4.7.-17.10.2007; 23.6.-7.7.2006; 1.4.-25.11.2007 Langourov et al., 2014; present paper 48 Otiorhynchus (s.str.) ovalipennis Boheman, 1 843 P-S-4 & 5 23.6.-7.07.2006; 7.12.2006-19.4.2007; 19.5.-13.7.2007; 19.8.-15.11.2007 Present paper 49 Otiorhynchus ( Podoro - pelmus) aff. metsovensis Magnano, 1999 P-S-2 & 3 4.7.-17.10.2007 Present paper; probably new species 50 Otiorhynchus ( Zustalestus ) consobrinus Reitter, 1913 P-S-l 4.7.-17.10.2007 Present paper; new subgenus for Bulgaria Table 2 (3/6). List of the registered edaphicolous and hypogeicolous Coleoptera from MSS- traps. First purposive study of beetles (Coleoptera) from endogean environments in Bulgaria: collection sites and preliminary results 335 Family Species and subspecies Trap No. Collection date References 51 Familia Stomodes rotundicollis P-S-2&3 4.7.-17.10.2007 Present paper CURCULIONIDA E Frivaldszky, 1880 52 Sitophilus ory’zae (Linnaeus, 1763) P-S-2&3 4.7.-17.10.2007 Present paper 53 Tychius sp. P-S-4&5 23.6.-7.7.2006 Present paper 54 Familia Hylaia reissi WR-2 9.06.-19.07.2006 Present paper LNDOMYCHIDAL Csiki, 1911 EG-1&2 25.06.-2.12.2006 P-S-2&3 4.07.-17.10.2007 V-N-l; V-SL-3 5.11.2006-6.06.2007 02.11.2013-30.07.2014 55 Lycoperdina pulvinata Reitter, 1884 S-l 9.6.2007 Present paper 56 Familia Abraeus perpusillus DH-1&2 10-20.5.2007 Present paper HISTER1DAE (Marsham, 1802) 57 Familia Agathidium ( s.str. ) EG-1&2 25.6.-2.12.2006 Gueorguiev & LEIOD1DAE bohemicum Reitter, 1884 Belcchiev, 2009 58 Apocatops nigrita (Erichson, 1837) EG-1&2 25.6.-2.12.2006 Present paper 59 Catops chrysomeloides V-SL-4 6.6-2.10.2013 Langourov et al., (Panzer, 1798) 2014 60 Catops fuliginosus V-W-3 26.8.-3.12.2006; Langourov et al., Erichson, 1837 P-N-2 16.6.2006; 2014; P-S-4&5 27.06.-7.12.2006; present paper EG-1&2 25.6.-2.12.2006; V-SL-4 2.10-2.11.2013 61 Catops grandicollis SG-1; SG-2 29.04.-29.05.2006; Present paper Erichson, 1837 1.05.-25.05.2007 62 Catops neglectus P-N-2 7.9.2006-3.7.2007; Gueorguiev & Kraatz, 1852 WR-2 23.4.-9.6.2006; Bekchiev, 2009; EG-1&2 25.6.-2.12.2006; Langourov et al., SG-3 18.11.-28.12.2006; 2014 V-N-2&3 5.11.2006-6.6.2007 63 Catops picipes V-SL-4 2.10-02.11.2013 Langourov et al., (Fabricius, 1792) 2014 64 Catops subfuscus P-N-2 24.5.-16.6.2006 Gueorguiev & Kellner, 1846 Bekchiev, 2009 65 Catops tristis P-N-l 7.9.2006-3.7.2007; Present paper (Panzer, 1794) P-S-l 9.2006-4.7.2007 66 Choleva (s.str.) agilis V-SL-4 6.6-2.10.2013 Langourov et al., (Illiger, 1798) 2014 67 Choleva (s.str.) angustata SG-1 29.4.-29.5.2006; Langourov et al., (Fabricius, 1781) V-SL-4 6.6-2.10.2013 2014; present paper 68 Choleva (s.str.) glauca P-S-l 9.2006-4.7.2007; Langourov et al., Britten, 1918 V-SL-4 6.6-2.10.2013 2014 and present paper 69 Choleva (s.str.) V-SL-4 6.6-2.10.2013 Langourov et al., macedonica Karaman, 1954 - Fig. 4 2014 Table 2 (4/6). List of the registered edaphicolous and hypogeicolous Coleoptera from MSS- traps. 336 Rostislav Bekchiev & Borislav Gueorguiev Family Species and subspecies Trap No. Collection date References 70 Choleva (s.str.) oblonga Latreille, 1807 SG-2 20.4.-1.5.2007 Present paper 71 Choleva (s.str.) reitteri EG-1&2 25.6.-2.12.2006; Langourov et al., Petri, 1915 V-SL-4 6.6-2.10.2013 2014 and present paper 72 Choleva ( Cholevopsis ) P-E-2; P-S-2; 7.09.2006-4.07.2007; Present paper paskoviensis SG-1 11.2006-4.07.2007; Reitter, 1913 6.08.-18.09.2006 73 Colon sp. P-E-2; 7.9.2006-4.7.2007; Present paper P-S-4&5; 7.12.2006-19.4.2007; EG-1&2 25.6.-2.12.2006; 18.4.- 17.6.2007 74 Guerguievella petrovi Giachino et Gueorguiev, 2007 WR-5 14.7.-13.10.2007 Present paper 75 Hydnobius punctatus EG-1&2 25.6.-2.12.2006 Gueorguiev & Flampe, 1861 Bekchiev, 2009 76 Leiodes sp. P-W-2 7.5.-18.6.2006; Present paper P-S-4&5 7.12.2006-19.4.2007; EG-1&2 25.6.-2.12.2006 77 Liocyrtusa nigriclavis EG-1&2 25.6.-2.12.2006 Gueorguiev & (Hlisnikovsky, 1967) Bekchiev, 2009 78 Nargus (s.str.) V-E-l 16.4.-15.7.2007; Langourov et al., badius rotundus P-N-l 7.9.2006-3.7.2007; 2014 and present Karaman, 1954 EG-1&2 17.6.-9.7.2007; paper V-SL-4 6.6-2.10.2013 79 Nargus ( Demorchus ) sp. V-W-3 26.08.-3.12.2006 Present paper 80 Ptomaphagus (s.str.) P-S-l 11.06.-25.06.2006; Langourov et al., sericatus EG-1&2 9.2006-4.07.2007; 2014; (Chaudoir, 1845) V-SL-4 25.06.-2.12.2006; 17.06.- 9.07.2007; 02.10- 02.11.2013 present paper 81 Sciodrepoides watsoni EG-1&2 25.6.-2.12.2006; 30.4.- Langourov et al., watsoni (Spence, 1815) V-N-2 3.6.2006; 7.9.2006- 2014 and present P-N-l 3.7.2007; 7.9.2006- paper P-N-2 3.7.2007; 29.05.- SG-3 17.6.2006; 17.6.- 6.8.2006 82 Familia Rhizophagus DH-1&2 6.09-3.11.2007 Present paper MONOTOMIDAE ( Rhizophagus ) ferruginous (Paykull, 1 800) 83 Rhizophagus V-SL-4 6.6-2.10.2013 Langourov et al., ( Rhizophagus ) perforatus Erichson 1845 2014 84 Familia SCIRTIDAE Cyphon sp. SG-1 29.04.-29.05.2006 Present paper 85 Familia Oryzaephilus surinamen- V-SL-4 6.6-2.10.2013 Langourov et al., SILVANIDAE ^(Linnaeus, 1758) 2014 Table 2 (5/6). List of the registered edaphicolous and hypogeicolous beetle (Coleoptera) taxa from MSS- traps. First purposive study of beetles (Coleoptera) from endogean environments in Bulgaria: collection sites and preliminary results 337 Family Species and subspecies Trap No. Collection date References 86 Familia SILPHIDAE Silpha obscura orientalis Brulle, 1832 P-S-2&3 4.07.-17.10.2007 Present paper 87 Familia STAPH YL1NI DAE (PSELAPH1NAE) Batrisodes elysius Reitter, 1884 P-W-4 6.7.2006 Present paper 88 Bryaxis dalmatinus (Reitter, 1881) P-S-4&5 V-SL-1-2 27.6.-7.12.2006; 6.6-2.11.2013 Bekchiev, 2008; Langourov et al., 2014 89 Bryaxis beroni Karaman, 1969 -Fig. 5 EG-1&2 23.06.2008 Present paper 90 Bryaxis islamitus (Reitter, 1885) P-N-2 4.07.-16.11.2007 Present paper 91 Bryaxis roumaniae Raffray, 1904 P-E-1&2; P-N-2; V-SL-3 4.07.-17.10.2007; 4.07-16. 11. 2007/P.S; 02.10-02.11.2013 Langourov et al., 2014; present paper 92 Bryaxis nodicornis Aube, 1833 V-SL-4 06.06-02.10.2013 Langourov et al., 2014 93 Bythinus acutangulus lunifer Karaman, 1948 P-N-2 4.07-16.11.2007 Present paper 94 Claviger cf. elysius Reitter, 1884 P-E-l 07.09.2006- 04.07.2007 Present paper 95 Trimium caucasicum Kolenati, 1846 P-S-4&5 P-S-6 19.04.-19.06.2007 15.11.2007 Present paper 96 Trimium puncticeps Reitter, 1880 V-SL-6 07.2014 Present paper 97 Trimium expandum Reitter, 1884 P-S-4&5 27.06.-7.12.2006 Bekchiev, 2008 98 Tychus apfelbecki Karaman, 1955 P-E-l 7.9.2006- 4.7.2007 Bekchiev, 2008 99 Familia ZOPHER1DAE Langelandia sp. P-W-2 P-E-l &2 P-S-4&5 DH-1&2 6.7.2006 7.9.2006- 4.7.2007 7.12.2006- 19.4.2007 10-20.5.2007 Present paper Table 2 (6/6)285-296. List of the registered edaphicolous and hypogeicolous Coleoptera from MSS- traps. Choleva macedonica is worth mentioning. It has been described by a single male specimen collected from the cave of Bela Voda (Karaman, 1954), in the south of Republic of Macedonia. The cave lies on the left bank of Vardar River, close to the archeolo- gical site Proselc at the Demir-Kapija Canyon. Szymczalcowski (1976) expressed doubts about the status of C. macedonica and listed it as questioned synonym of C. sturmi Brisout de Bameville, 1863. Subsequently the species status of the former was confirmed (Nonveiller et al., 1999) and since then it is considered distinct species (Perreau, 2004). C. macedonica was recently announced from Bulgaria (Langourov et al., 2014). Based on two male speci- mens (one of them without head and pronotum), the record at Popov Izvor Karst Spring (see Table 2) represents the second finding of the species after the description and the first one out of Republic of Macedonia. The study of the aedeagus supports the view of Karaman (ibid.) that it is a distinct species, not synonym of C. sturmi. From an ecological point of view, the most striking fact to us seems the coexistence of five species of Choleva (s. str.) at the same place and probably in the same time (Popov Izvor Karst spring, N42.50275 E23. 15317, 06.VI-02.X.2013): Choleva agilis, Ch. angustata , Ch. glauca, Ch. macedonia, and Ch. reitteri. 338 Rostislav Bekchiev & Borislav Gueorguiev Figure 2. Habitus of Ataenius horticola ; Figure 3. Habitus of Blemus discus ; Figure 4. Habitus of Choleva macedonica (scale figs. 2-4: 2.5 mm); Figure 5. Habitus of Bryaxis beroni (scale: 1.0 mm). First purposive study of beetles (Coleoptera) from endogean environments in Bulgaria: collection sites and preliminary results 339 Staphylinidae ( Pselaphinae ) All species that were captured with MSS traps usually can be found in leaf litter, rotten wood or under bark of trees and under stones. Apparently these species penetrate deep in the soil and some of them ( Bryaxis islamitus, Batrisodes elysius) can be found also in caves (Besuchet, 1978, 1993; Bekchiev, 2011). We could suppose that the reason for this vertical migration is the alteration of appro- priate microclimatical conditions (temperature, humidity) on the surface of the soil during the dif- ferent seasons. Interesting fact is the founding of Bryaxis beroni in MSS, up to now this species was known only from caves (Bekchiev, 2008; Hlavac et al., 2008). Curculionidae Seventeen species of weevils have been caught in the MSS -trap as eleven of them belong to the genus Otiorhynchus Germar, 1822. The representatives of this genus are usually known as wingless rhizopha- gous. It is worth noting the finding of two taxa. The first of them is Otiorhynchus consobrinus. It be- longs to the Balkan endemic subgenus Zustalestus Reitter, 1912 and is new to the Bulgarian fauna. So far, this species was known only from Croatia. The second species deserving attention is Otiorhynchus (. Podoropelmus ) sp. aff. metsovensis Magnano, 1999. This taxon might belong to a new species for the science, but additional material and works are needed to prove it. other families Besides species of the above discussed four families, we found in the traps also representatives of other twelve families (Table 2). Among the last species, the most characteristic endogean element seems to be the genus Lan- gelandia Aube, 1842. The species from this genus are always blind and partially depigmented, and they are collected sometimes sifting soil litter. We have distinguished at least three morphospecies of Langelandia as only L. anophtalma Aube, 1842 was hitherto reported for Bulgaria. The material from this genus will be object of a separate study. The representatives of Hylaia Guerin-Meneville, 1857 and Lycoperdina Latreille, 1807 (both endomychids) have been collected also in Bulgaria shifting leaf litter, and rarely they fall in the pitfall traps “Barber”. These beetles eat fungi and live in the ground, so their finding in the MSS-traps was not a surprise. An interesting fact is the collection of Ataenius hordeola. The only species from sub- family Euparinae in continental Europe was only recently recorded from Bulgaria with detailed data (Gueorguiev & Bekchiev, 2009). AKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was made possible with funding from the Ministry of Education and Science, The Na- tional Science Fund project No. B- 1523/05 “First investigation of the "milieu souterrain superficiel" (MSS) in Bulgaria: comparative analysis of the fauna of silicate and limestone regions based on selected groups of invertebrate animals”and from an Operational Programme "Environment 2007- 2013” grant No 5103020-C-001 “State of the cave fauna with a view to protection of the caves, superterestrial, subterranean karstic forms and relief in the south part of Natural Park Vitosha (Bosneshkikarstic region)”. REFERENCES Bekchiev R., 2008. The subfamily Pselaphinae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) of Southwestern Bulgaria I. Historia naturalis bulgarica, 19: 51-71. Bekchiev R., 201 1 . A study of the Pselaphinae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) in the Rhodopes Mountain (Bulgaria). In: Biodiversity of Western Rhodopes (Bulgaria and Greece) II. 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Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 341-352 Monograph Ground beetles (Coleoptera Carabidae) diversity patterns in forest habitats of high conservation value, Southern Bulgaria Rumyana Kostova Sofia University, Faculty of Biology, Department of Zoology and Anthropology, 8 “DraganTzankov” blvd., Sofia 1164, Bulgaria; e-mail: mmy.kostova@gmail.com ABSTRACT The study presents a comparison between the diversity of the carabid beetles taxocoenoses and their spatial distribution in different forest types of high conservation value in Strandzha (8 sites), the Rhodopes (4 sites) and Belasitsa (6 sites) mountains. The diversity indices have demonstrated the highest species richness and the highest diversity values in the riverside sites of Strandzha Mountain. The lowest species richness has been found in the tertiary relict forest of oriental beech with undergrowth of rhododendron (Strandzha Mountain) and in the century- old sweet chestnut forest (Belasitsa Mountain). The lowest values of diversity and evenness have been found in the beech forest sites in Strandzha and the Rhodopes due to the prevalence of the Aptinus species. This low diversity is a natural condition for the studied sites. The classification of the ground beetles complexes from the studied sites by similarity indices and TWINSPAN has been made. A high level of dissimilarity among the sites has been found, showing unique species composition and abundance models in each site. Carabid beetles taxocoenoses in the forests of Strandzha Mountain have shown a low similarity level by species composition and abundance even in the range of the same mountain. Indicator species have been shown. The ordination of the carabid complexes has showed that the sites have been distributed continuously along two significant gradients. The first gradient has been found to be the altitude (probably due to the temperature conditions) in a combination with the hydro- logical regime. The second significant gradient probably has been under the complex influence of the climate conditions and vegetation type. KEY WORDS Carabidae; diversity; conservation; Bulgaria. Received 07.09.2014; accepted 30.11.2014; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6th- 1 8th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION The present study is a part of the pilot studies of some indicator species groups as a basis for a long term monitoring in different forest types of high conservation value (Natura 2000 sites) in the Rhodopes, Belasitsa and Strandzha Mountains. In order to assess the ecosystems before taking some management decisions there is a need of basic knowledge of the species compositions and succes- sional processes of the species assemblages occup- ying the habitats (Szyszko et al., 2000). Ground beetles could be a very useful group as an indicator of the habitat disturbance as well: they are abundant in most ecosystems; some species possess strong habitat preferences; most of the ground beetle species are associated with specific landscapes and microclimate conditions; they show rapid response to environmental changes (Pearsal, 2007). Until this study there was scarce information 342 Rumyana Kostova about carabid beetles’ fauna of Strandzha and Belasitsa Mountains (Gueorguiev & Gueorguiev, 1995). The diversity patterns and spatial structure of the ground beetles communities from these habitats have been unknown as well. MATERIAL AND METHODS Study area and sampling methods The studied sites have been chosen in order to be representative habitat types for the Rhodopes, Belasitsa and Strandzha Mountains. The total num- ber of the studied sites has been eighteen (Table 1, Fig.l). The description of the sample sites and their code according to Habitats Directive (Directive 92/43 EEC, EC, 1992) are given in Table 1. At each site 10 pitfall traps (diameter = 80 mm, length =110 mm) were set in a line. The conserving fluid in the traps was propylene glycol. The material was collected from May to October in the corres- ponding years shown in Table 2. Data Analysis The species richness-number of collected species in each sample site (S); Shanon’s (H) and Evenness indexes have been calculated to compare alfa-di- versity. Chao 1 procedure has been applied to calculate the expected species richness in the studied sites (Chao, 2005). The dominance of the species has been determ- ined using Pesenco’s logarithmic scale (Pesenko, 1982) and the categories names have been adapted to Tischler’s dominance categories, (1949): eudom- inants (very hight abundance), dominants (high abundance), subdominants (average abundance), recedents (low abundance) and subrecedents (single individuals) (Kostova, 2009). Multidimensional non-parametric scaling (MDS) has been applied to visualize is similarity distances between the dom- inance curves of the studied taxocoenoses (Clarke, 1993). Chi-square test has been used to test the goodness of fit of the studied taxoconoses’ abun- dance models to the theoretical ones. Czekanowski-Sorensen and Bray- Curtis simil- arity coefficients have been used to calculate simil- arity between carabid taxocoenoses, by species composition and by relative abundance of the species respectively. UPGMA method for clustering has been applied for constructing the dendrograms (Krebs, 1999). Two way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) for classification of the carabid beetle complexes has also been performed. Figure 1. A map of the location of the study sites, S-Bulgaria (Source: Google Earth, 2014). Coleoptera Carabidae diversity patterns in forest habitats of high conservation value, S-Bulgaria 343 Mountain Site Altitude Characteristic trees Code HD 92/4 3 Belasitsa B PI 450 Pia tanus orien talis L inn ae us 92C0 - Platan us orien talis and Liquidambar oriental is woods BPICast 400 Pia tonus orien talis Linnaeus, Casta nea sativa Miller 92C0 - Platan us orien talis and Liquidambar oriental is woods B_Cast_Pl 400 Pia tanus orien talis Linnaeus, Casta nea sativa Miller 92C0- Platan us oriental is and Liquidambar orien talis woods B Cast 750 Cos tan ea sativa Miller, Fa gits sylvatica Linnaeus 9260 Ca sta n ea sativa wood s BF 700 Fa gits sylvatica Linnaeus (along waterfall) 9110 Luzulo-F age turn beech forests B_F2 1500 Fagus sylvatica Linnaeus 9110 Luzulo-Fagetum beech forests Rhodopes RhQ 1054 Quercus d alec ham pit Tenore 9 IM0 Pannoman-Balkanic turkey oak- sessile oak forests Rh F 1133 Fagus sylvatica Linnaeus 9130 Asperulo-Fagetum beech forests Rh_F_Ab 1401 Fagus sylvatica Linnaeus, single trees Picea a hies K ar s ten , A hies alba Miller 9 130 A sperulo -Fagetum beech forests Rh_Pic_Ab 1596 Picea a hies Karsten, Abies alba Miller 9410 AcidophilousP/cea forests of the montane to alpine levels Strandzha S_Q 324 Quercus h artwissiana Steven, Quercus cerris Linnaeus 91 M0 *P anno nian-B alkanic turkey oak- sessile oak forests S_Q2 15 Quercus frainetto T enore, Quercus cerris Linnaeus 91 M0 *P anno nian-B alkanic turkey oak- sessile oak forests S_Q _F 271 Quercus polycar pa Schur, single trees Fagus orinetalis Lipsky 91 M0 *P anno nian-B alkanic turkey oak- sessile oak forests S F 401 Fagus orien talis Lipsky 91 SO * Western Pontic beech forests S_F_Rhod 183 Fagus orien talis Lipsky, udergrowth Rhododendron ponticum Linnaeus 91 SO * Western Pontic beech forests S_Rip 224 Alnus glutinosa Gaertm, Quercus cerris Linnaeus 9 1 E0 * Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraximts excelsior S_Rip2 35 meadow with single trees Ain us glutinosa G aertn Salt's sp . , Uglans regia Linnaeus, Rubussp. near Quercus sp. forest 91E0 ^Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraximts excelsior SLongoz 6 Fraximts angusti folia subsp. oxycarpa (M.Bieb, ex Willd.), Alnus glutinosa Gaertn. 9 1 FO Riparian mixed forests of Quercus robur , Vim us laevis and Vlmus minor , Fraximts excelsior or Fraximts angustifolia, along the great rivers Table 1 . Description of the sample sites, S-Bulgaria. 344 Rumyana Kostova This method makes classification of the samples, and then uses this classification to obtain a classification of the species according to their ecological preferences. It also makes a dichotomy based on ordination identifying the direction of variation. It gives an indicator pseudospecies, i.e. transforms abundance into pseudospecies (Hill & Smilauer, 2005). Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) has been applied for ordination of the beetle complexes by sample sites. Data standardization has been applied for the analysis due to the different duration of the collecting time. The relative abundance (pro- portion of the total number of caught individuals) of the species from a given sample site has been used to calculate alfa-diversity indices, two way indicator species analysis and dominant structure analysis. Mean number of caught individuals per 100 trap/days has been used for cluster and ordina- tion analysis. The following statistical softwares were used: Microsoft Excel (Office 2010), Past 3.01 (Hammer & Harper, 2001), Estimate S9.1.0 (Colwell, 2013), Primer 6 (Clarke & Gorley, 2006), WinTWINS 2.3 (Hill & Smilauer, 2005). RESULTS Eleven thousand eight hundred and seventy-six individuals belonging to one hundred twenty-eight species have been collected (Tables 2, 3). Only six species have been common to the three mountains: Calosoma sycophanta, Carabus convexus, C. in- tricatus, C. coriaceus, Pterostichus niger and Myas chalybaeus (Fig. 2). The highest species richness of ground beetles has been shown in the riparian site with meadow and single trees (Strandzha)- 45 species. Relatively high species richness has also been demonstrated in the riparian sites of Strandzha with rich herbaceous undergrowth. The lowest species number has been found in the tertiary relict forest of Fagus orientalis with undergrowth of Rhododendron ponticum (Strandzha), 8 species and in the centuries-old forest of Castanea sativa (Belasitsa), 9 species. Relatively low species richness has also been found in the carabid taxocoenoses from the sample sites with altitude above 1400 m (the Rhodopes and Belasitsa Mountains) (Fig. 3). The species number of the ground beetles at each site has been actually Mountain Year of study N exemplars NSpecies Rhodopes 2006,2007 5062 29 Belasitsa 2008,2009 1810 46 Strandzha 2009 5004 92 Total 11876 128 Table 2. A summary table of the collected material, S-Bulgaria. Figure 2. Species richness (empirical and estimated by Chao 1 procedure) of the ground beetle complexes in the studied sites. greater, because there have been species that do not fall into the traps. The estimated species number by Chaol procedure has been almost the same only for four of the carabid taxocoenoses with relatively low species richness. The highest species number has been estimated for the riparian sites, the oak forests at the seashore in Strandzha and for the oriental plane forests in Belasitsa (Fig. 3). Shanon’s diversity index, fairly sensitive to actual site differences (Krebs, 1999), has demon- strated relatively high ground beetles diversity for all of the studied sites (Figs. 4, 5). An exception has been the beech forests of the Rhodopes and Strandzha Mountains due to the prevalence of one species: Aptinus bombarda and A. cordicollis re- spectively. The carabid taxocoenose of the century- old sweet chestnut forest in Belasitsa has shown the highest value of evenness -0.8. The lowest evenness has been estimated for the carabid taxocoen- oses from the beech forest of Strandzha and the Rhodopes due to the above mentioned prevalence of the Aptinus species (Fig. 6). Coleoptera Carabidae diversity patterns in forest habitats of high conservation value, S-Bulgaria 345 O.T Sites Figure 3. Diversity of the ground beetle complexes in the studied sites, estimated by Shanon’s index. Figure 4. Evenness of the ground beetle complexes in the studied sites. E £ s. Hip: J_Hfp S^l i.f i_QJ s_Q l_F SL«_Cirt s_(i_w.a » 49 SO Numbtrs{l|i«l(i SO Stress- 0.02 • 5_Kip2 S F* •S_Longoz RF« #B_F •S_Q • BP! S_F Rh* / 3 -PLCast B_Casl« •R_Pic_Ab •B_Q2 _ . #R O R_F_Ab* • S_Rip Figure 5. Dominance structure of the ground beetle complexes, based on Pesenko’s logarithmic scale. Figure 6. Dissimilarity distances between the dominance curves of the studied taxocoenoses, an MDS method. The dominance structure of the riparian site with meadow in Strandzha has differed strongly from all the other with many species represented by single individuals (Figs. 7, 8). The riparian forest of Strandzha (S_Rip) has showed a dominance struc- ture close to the chestnut with oriental plane trees in Belasitsa (B_Cast_Pl) without eudominants and more species as dominants and subdominants. These two sites have one thing in common- through both of them pass eco-trails. They have demon- strated Log-series model of the abundance, charac- teristic for disturbed habitats (B_Cast_Pl: Chi square = 0.97, p = 0.94; S_Rip: Chi square = 0.98, p = 0.91). The beech woods with prevalence of the Aptinus species have also represented a close domin- ant structure, so as the century-old and the tertiary relict forests with a small number of species and high evenness. The classification of the carabid beetles’taxocoenoses by qualitative and quantitative similarity coefficients has demonstrated low levels of similarity for the mountains in general. Four main clusters have been formed by species compos- ition (Fig. 9). The similarity by species composition has been relatively high for the studied carabid as- semblages from the Rhodopes where they have formed a separate cluster. A separate cluster, al- though with low similarity, has been formed by the periodically flooded riparian sites of Strandzha with thick herbaceous undergrowth (S_Rip; S JLongoz). The beech and the chestnut forests of Belasitsa have also represented a separate cluster. The rest of the studied ground beetle assemblages have formed a cluster with low to average similarity between them. The picture of the clustering based on Bray- Curtis coefficient has shown more differences bet- ween the studied carabid assemblages. 346 Rumyana Kostova oj G e o 0 . 40 60 80 100 -L Samples Figure 7. A dendrogram for hierarchical clustering of the similarity by species composition of the carabid beetles’ complexes, an UPGMA method, based on Chekanovski- Sorensen coefficient of similarity. Figure 8. A dendrogram for hierarchical clustering of the similarity by species abundance of the carabid beetles’ complexes, an UPGMA method, based on Bray- Curtis coefficient of similarity. The levels of similarity have been much lower than by species composition only. There have been three main clusters: one of the riparian sites of Strandzha; one of the sites of the Rhodopes and one of all the other sites. At first level of division TWIN- SPAN analysis of the ground beetles’taxocoenoses by sample sites has shown separation of the Strandzha and Belasitsa low altitude sites from the other sample sites. The following groups of sites have been formed at second level of division: 1 .the Rhodopes sites with altitude above 1000 m and Belasitsa sites above 700 m; 2. Belasitsa and Strandzha forest sites up to 450m; 3. the period- ically flooded riparian sites of Strandzha. The clas- sification of the species based on their habitat preferences has also been obtained (Table 3). The ordination of the carabid assemblages by DCA has demonstrated two significant gradients (Eigenvalues: first axis = 0.97, second axis = 0.63, third axis = 0.34, fourth axis = 0.15). The sample sites have been arranged along the first axis as follows: the sites from the Rhodopes (above 1000 m) have been followed by the sites from Belasitsa in direction higher to lower altitude sites, then the forest sites from Strandzha and the riparian sites from the same mountain ending with the period- Coleoptera Carabidae diversity patterns in forest habitats of high conservation value, S-Bulgaria 347 ically flooded forest along the estuary of Veleka river with altitude almost at the sea level. The arrangement along the second axis (gradient) has separated the Norway spruce forests with altitude above 1400 meters from all the other sites (Fig. 11). DISCUSSION The studied carabid beetles’ taxocoenoses have demonstrated high species richness and diversity as a whole. There have been some exceptions like the low species richness of ground beetles in the old stable forest ecosystems, which is a natural condi- tion. The higher species number of carabids in the open area habitats and cleared forests than in the old forests is typical for the temperate zone (Kryzhanovsky, 1983). The low values of diversity indices and evenness of the beech forests of the Rhodopes and Strandzha Mountains have been due to the prevalence of one species: Aptinus bombarda and A. cordicollis, respectively. This natural condi- tion had also been found for the beech forests in Vitosha Mountain, Bulgaria (Popov et al., 1998). The dominance structure and the abundance mod- els of the carabid beetles’ associations could be im- portant indicators for the statement of succession and disturbance (Hill & Hamer, 1998). Only two of the studied habitats have shown disturbance by this estimators, probably due to an anthropogenic disturb- ance of the often visited by tourists eco-trails in them. However, the use of the abundance models for assessment of the ground beetles status, respectively habitat status, is controversial. One of the reasons is that there are taxocoenoses with natural conditions differing from log-normal abundance model, which is an indicator of natural undisturbed communities. When chi-square test is used for estimating good- ness of fit to the theoretical models, there appears another problem. This test has low power and cannot be used for small samples (for example sites with low species number cannot be tested), so as for the different abundance models it has a different power, and the results of p - value should not be used for comparisons between the goodness of fit to the different models (Hammer et al., 2001). Then Kolmogorov-Smimov one sample test could also be used. The classification of the studied sites has shown unique species composition and abundance of the ground beetle assemblages even within the range of one mountain. The unique indicator carabid species and pseudospecies (with trans- formed abundance) for the studied sites have been estimated by TWINSPAN analysis. An indicator pseudospecies could be those with category above 2 (abundance above 5 %), they have to be abundant enough to be easily found and collected. As a result, the following indicator species could be used for the studied taxocoenoses: Cychrus semigranosus balcanicus and Carabus hortensis have been found as indicators for the high altitude beech and Norway spruce forests, Calathus metal- 400 ^h 350 - 300 CM 250 - 3 200 150 100 50 0 Pic Ab *kh F Ab ^_F2 % F Q *8 p ^_Cast*s_G f e?2 d S_Q_F *^_Rip2 ^S_lorgoz *Rh F 160 320 480 640 Axis 1 800 960 1120 1280 Figure 9. Detrended correspondence ana- lysis (DCA) ordina- tion diagram of the carabid beetles’ com- plexes. 348 Rumyana Kostova Species — ' ! j£ f 3C I 5 a Sample sites ss si si O' it. & Ll. tf; 1 “ a£ ^ i- l O' c#3 s 54 c/5 Species division levels Platydents ruftts Du ft schmid, 1812 - !: 4 II Op ho ruts laticollis Mannerhdm, 1 825 it Carabus mtricatus Linnaeus, 176 1 Tapinopterus bakanicus beiasicensis M aran , 1 933 4 — tout Laemostenm t err kola pane fat us Dei can. 1828 lom PterostU ch us vecors ( T sch i t seller i ne, 1 897) 101 HI Pferost kbits truck i Scftaum, 1859 * IOT 10 Pferost ic 7j i ts brevis (Duftschmid. 1812) *10110 Plat y nus scrobiculatus ( Fahricius, 1801} lOtIO Opium us schaubergerianus (Pud, 1937) * 101 to Mo fops ntfipes beiasicensis Mlynar, 1977 ! 5 *10110 L eistus magn ico 1 1 is Motschuisky, 1 866 *10110 Lebia cyanocephala (Linnaeus, 1758) 101 to Harpalus t riser iat us Fiieseher, 1 897 *10110 Harpalus griseus ( Panzer, 1797) *10110 Synuchus viva l is (Miger, 1 798) JOtOll C ye hr us semigranosus haicankiis HopfTgartcn, 1881 r m i o 1 1 Pterostkhus oblongopunctatus ( Fabric i us, 1787) KHOIO Carabus violaceus azurescens Dejcan. 1826 5 101010 MVJWOIU I Carabus ho/ tens is Linnaeus, 1758 Xenion ignition (Kraal/, 1875) 1 Ik J I -■» If 1 i r 3 I » ■ J ri / M i. 11 I .-I ■ f mn 101010 m ■ lb- p i 1 m * r v w ■ pit ■ «p ■ ■ Y K ® .■ is, Aphmpterus ha lean kus Ganglbauer, 1891 5 j — r - 101001 101001 Notioph i fits b iguttati is (Fabricius, 1779) JOIdOi Mo lops rhodopens is Apfclbeck, 1904 loioot Mo lops diktat us Chaudoir. 1 868 5 ! - 101001 Molops alpestris (Dejean. 1 828) 101001 Mkro/esfes ininufu/us (Goeze, 1777) 101001 Laemostenas t err kola l lerbsl. 1 784 101001 Clivina fbssor (Linnaeus, 1758) 101001 Carabus montivagus bid gar tens Csiki, 1927 2 ! - 101001 Cola thus mollis (Marsha m. 1802) 10 1 001 Calathus met all kus Dejean, 1828 5 ! 101001 Apt inns bombarda (llliger. 1800) 10(001 A box oralis (Dnfischmid. 1812) 101001 Table 3.TWINSPAN analysis’ table of the studied ground beetles’taxocoenoses. Species abundance has been represented by pseudospecies. Doubled line has shown the first level of division, dotted line has shown the second level of division (continued). Coleoptera Carabidae diversity patterns in forest habitats of high conservation value, S-Bulgaria 349 Species < it 1 « Q _ £ Sam pie sites £2 £2 Vi O' 1 --- O' c^ 1 i i ^ | I » r ( Species division levels Pterostidms wjgc-r (Schaller. 1930) hi moo Amaru communis (Panzer, [ 797) 'to 1000 Harpalus rufipes (De Geer 1 774) * i 3 'too Ca la thus fuscipes (Gocze, 1777) 2 ; 5 *011 Anisodactil i is hi > lot a fits (Fabricius, 1787) *011 Amara aenea (De Geer, 1774) *011 Trechus quadristriatus (Schrank, 1781) 2 i 2 *0101 Myas chcilybaetts (Palliardi, 1825) *0101 Cara bus con vex us Fabric ins, 1775 5 3 ! 2 r *0101 A box ccirinatm ( Du Itsehtn i d, 1812) * 010 ) Not ioph Hus nip pcs Curl is, 1829 *0100 Cara hits coriaceus Linnaeus, 1758 *0100 Cal osoma sycophant a (Linnaeus, 1758) Harpalus atratus Latreille, 1804 -* — * — 4 *0100 *001 Amara saphyreu Dejean, 1828 *001 Amara convex tor Stephens. 1 828 *001 Trechus crucifer B ruled e, 1875 *0010 Pterostich i is properans (Chaudoir, 1868) 2 ; *0010 Harpai us calceafi is (Duftschmid, 1812) *0010 Molops p teens byz a minus Apfelbeck, 1902 *0010 Lie jnu.s eass ideas (Fabricius. 1792) *0010 Laemostenus^ venus fits ( Dejean, 1828) - ! l *0010 Laemostenus cimmerius ( F isc her- Wald he i m , 1 82 3 } *0010 Harpalus sulphitripes Germar, 1824 *0010 Harpai us smaragdimts (Duftschmid, 1812) *0010 Harpalus honest us (Duftschmid, 1812) *0010 Harpalus froelichi Sturm, 1818 *0010 Chlaenius aenocephctlm Dejean, 1826 *0010 Carabus marietti Cri stofori et J an , 1837 *0010 Carabus scahrosus Olivier, 1795 *0010 Calosoma inquisitor (Linnaeus, 1758) *0010 Ca la thus longico/l is M ol sehu I sky, 1864 *0010 Amara tricuspuiata tricuspidata Dejean. 183 1 *0010 Pterostichus nigrita ( Paykull, 1790) *0010 Harpalus tardus (Panzer, 1797) *0010 Dram itts q uadrimaculatus (Linnaeus, 1758) *0010 Table 3. TWINSPAN analysis’ table of the studied ground beetles ’taxocoenoses. Species abundance has been represented by pseudospecies. Doubled line has shown the first level of division, dotted line has shown the second level of division (continued). 350 Rumyana Kostova Species O' A cc < Lb' * i5 3C Sample sites lx, a 02 c. s. M5 1 JS si Lb' v; 1 B ,E-'% 2£ i V o Species division levels Acupalpus suturalis Dejean, 1829 *001010 i'rcchus sp, {suhnoUitus group} 3 ; *001001 Parophor ms n mci il icornis (Duftschroid, 1812) 2 ! *001001 Ophonus simi/is (Dejean, 1 829) *001001 Ophnnus nithint i ^Stephens, IK2S 2 ! *001001 Notioph i tus patustris (Duiftschmid, 1812) 2 ; *00100! Lets tus rt t fomargina tus L>u ft sc h in i d, 1812 4 ; *001001 Harpalus jlavicornis Dejean, 1829 *001001 Aptinus cord tool l is Chaudoir. 1 843 *001001 Amara ant hob la Villa, 1833 2 ; *001001 Harpalus ntbripes (Duftschmid. 1812 "001000 Ncbria brcvhoUis ( Fabric i us, 1 792) * 000 ] Cara bus wiedenun mi Mcnclrics, 1836 i i 3 *0001 Amara ova fa (habrieius, 1 792) *0001 / larpulus serripes (Qucnsel, 1 806) *(>0001 Harpalus ditniduuus (Rossi. 1790) - 1 4 *00001 ■Si atom us pal iipes ( Dejean, 1825) 2 - 2 *000010 Harpalus alhqnicus Re i tier, 1 900 I ! t *000010 Bembidion lampros (Herbs!, 1 784) 4 ; 5 * 0000)0 Agon i mi ass ini i la ( Pay kull, 1790) *000010 Asaphidion jlavipes (Linnaeus. 1761) 4 ! S *00000 I Agon um dorsalis (Pontopippidian, 1763) 4 ; 5 *000001 Trechus obtusus thracicus Pawiowski, 1973 *000000 Tachys bis trig tus (Duftschmid. 1812) *000000 Symomus obscurogmtatus (Duftshmid, 1812) *000000 Stenolophu smixtus(\ lerhst., 1784) *000000 Pterostichus stromas (Panzer, 1797) | 2 *000000 Pterostichus wc/mfCreirtzer, 1799) *000000 Ft ci -os tick i is melai ran us bulgaric us Lutshnik, 1915 *000000 Pterostichus icon is i Apfelbeek, 1 904 *000000 Pterostich i ts anthravin us (llliger, 1798) *000000 Poecilus cupreus (Linnaeus, 1758) *000000 Parophot ms com pi at latus (Dejean, 1829) ! 2 *000000 Fanagaeus entxmajor (Linnaeus, 1758) *000000 Ophonus sabulicoia (Panzer, 1 796) I 5 *000000 Ophon us me/ let i ( H ee r , 1837) *000000 Oodes gi acilis Villa, 1833 *000000 Harpalus tcnchrasus Dejean, 1829 *000000 Table 3. TWINSPAN analysis’ table of the studied ground beetles ’taxocoenoses. Species abundance has been represented by pseudospecies. Doubled line has shown the first level of division, dotted line has shown the second level of division (continued). Coleoptera Carabidae diversity patterns in forest habitats of high conservation value, S-Bulgaria 351 Species Sai np e sites Species division levels 3 a Lb 1 ■C 0£ X> 2' £ i JZ “l ifi ta 3 * 53 S' u fis' s se‘ — 35 u sd 3 Lb ®i & U. *3 a 5 lJ ■P rm 3 =. £ a. be V. N O SI c -3 Harpalus cupreus Dejean, 1 829 5 - *000000 Harpal i is mi turn mil is {Duftsehmid, 1812) 1 - *000000 Harpalus off in is ( Schrank, 1781) 1 - *000000 Gynandromorphus etruscus (Quensel, 1806) i - *000000 Dyschirius globosus { i icrbst, 1 783) 5 *000000 Diachrom t is germartus (Linnaeus, 1758) - 2 *000000 Chlaenius mgricorn is (Fabricius, 1787) - A *0000101 Carabus granulatus Linnaeus, 1758 5 *000000 Calathus melanocephalus (Linnaeus, 1758) 5 - *000000 Brack inns elegans Chaudoir, 1 842 1 2 *000000 Brachinus crepitans (Linnaeus, 1758) 2 - *000000 Bembidion inoptatum Schaum, 1 857 1 4 *000000 Ben i b id ion eiongan t m t - *000000 Bern b id ion andreae ( F a br i e i us 1787) 4 - *000000 Bern b id ion tethys N eto 1 i tzk y 1926 1 • *000000 Bad is ter bipustulatus (Fabricius, 1 792) 2 1 *000000 A n isodactil i is signal! is (Panzer, 1797) 1 - *000000 Agomun viduuni (Panzer, 1797) 5 *000000 Agon n in nigrum Dejean, 1 828 2 *000000 Agomun nut Her i Herbst. 1 785 2 - *000000 Division levels of the sites s * o * s * o e * s ■* •fc s n 5 * — g * — g * e E * ® in g * s g * s g * g * o * -* Table 3. TWINSPAN analysis’ table of the studied ground beetles ’taxocoenoses. Species abundance has been represented by pseudospecies. Doubled line has shown the first level of division, dotted line has shown the second level of division. licus has been an indicator for the Norway spruce forest above 1500 m, Molops rhodopensis has been found as an indicator species onlyfor the high altitude Norway spruce forest of the Rhodopes, Pterostichus brucki, for the high altitude beech forest of Belasitsa, Platyderus rufus has been uni- que for the low altitude oriental plane woods, Pterostichus melanarius bulgaricus, Bembidion andreae, Calathus melanocephalus, Harpalus cupreus and Ophonus sabulicola have been an indicator species for the open area grassy habitats (S_Rip2), Bembidion andreae has also been an indicator species only for the riparian meadow, Poecilus cupreus has also been found as an indic- ator species for wet grassy habitats like the period- ically flooded riparian sites of Strandzha, Leistus rufomarginatus and Trechus sp. (subnotatus group) have been indicator species for the riparian forest of Strandzha (S_Rip), Carabus granulatus, Chlaenius nigricornis, Dyschirius globosus and Oodes gracilis have been found as indicator species for the periodically flooded estuary forest of Strandzha (S_Longoz), Calathus longicollis has been an indicator species for the Black sea coastal oak forest, Carabus scabrosus, for the oriental beech woods of Strandzha. 352 Rumyana Kostova The ordination of the carabid beetles’ taxocoen- oses has demonstrated continuous arrangement of the sites along the first axis (the first gradient). The first gradient has been found to be the altitude (probably due to the temperature conditions) in combination with the hydrological regime (for example, the periodically flooding of the last two sites). On this gradient, probably there is a complex influence of the climate conditions and the vegetation type. Continuous arrangement according the temperature conditions had also been found for the carabid associations of different altitude in Vitosha Mountain by Popov et al. (1998). The high conservation value of the studied sites in the Rhodopes, Belasitsa and Strandzha Moun- tains has also to be concerned due to the great diversity of the ground beetles that should be preserved and monitored. Only the Rhodopes sites have been under high level of protection as a part of natural reserves, so as two of the sites in Strandzha as a part of protected localities. The rest of the studied habitats from Strandzha and Belasitsa Mountains have been with low protection status and therefore threatened by logging. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Field work has been supported by research pro- jects of the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science (BY-E-8/05, BM-6/2007, DO 02-159/ 2008). I would like to thank Dr. Borislav Georgiev (National Museum of Natural History, Sofia) for collaboration on the collecting, identification and counting the ground beetles from Belasitsa Moun- tain. Thanks also to Dr. Rostislav Bekchiev and Dr. Elena Tasheva for their company and help in collect- ing the material. Thanks to Maria Gargova (New Bulgarian University) for the language revision. REFERENCES Chao A., 2005. Species richness estimation. In: Balakrish- nan N., Read C.B. & Vidakovic B. (Eds.), 2005. Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences, Vol. 12, 2nd edn. Wiley Press, New York, 7909-7916. Clarke K., 1993. Non-parametric multivariate analyses of changes incommunity stmcture. Australian Journal ofEcology, 18: 117-143. Clarke K. & Gorley R., 2006. PRIMER v6: User Manual/Tutorial. PRIMER-E, Plymouth. Colwell R., 2013. Estimate S: Statistical estimation of species richness and shared species from samples. Version 9. Available at: http://purl.oclc.org/estimates European Commission, 1992. Council Directive 92/43 EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. Official Journal L 206, 22/07/1992: 7-50. Gueorguiev V. & Gueorguiev B., 1995. Catalogue of theground-beetles of Bulgaria (Coleoptera: Cara- bidae). Sofia, Pensoft, 279 pp. Hammer 0., Harper A. & Ryan R, 2001. PAST: Paleon- tological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica 4: 9 pp. Available at: http://palaeo-electronica.org/2001_l/ past/issue 10 1 .htm Hill J. & Hamer K., 1998. Using species abundance models as indicators of habitat disturbance in trop- ical forests. Journal of Applied Entomology, 35: 458-460. Hill O. & Smilauer R, 2005. TWINSPAN for Windows version 2.3. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology & Universityof South Bohemia, Huntingdon & Ceske Budejovice Kostova R., 2009. The Ground Beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in Two Biosphere Reserves in Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica, 61: 187-196. Krebs Ch., 1999. Ecological Methodology, 2nd ed. Addison- Welsey Educational Publishers, Inc., Menlo Park, CA. 620 pp. Kryzhanovsky O., 1983. Beetles of suborder Adephaga: families Rhysodidae, Trachypachidae; family Cara- bidae (introduction, survey of the fauna of SSSR). Fauna SSSR, Coleoptera (Volume I, Ed. 2). Nauka publishers, Leningrad, 342 pp. (in Russian). Pearsal A., 2007. Carabid beetles as Ecological indicat- ors. Paper presented at the “Effectiveness of Biolo- gical Conservation” conference, 2-4 November 2004, Richmond, BC. Pesenko J., 1982. Principles and methods of quantitative analysis in faunistic studies. Nauka publishers, Moscow, 287 pp. (In Russian). Popov V., Krusteva I. & Sakalian V., 1998. Some aspects of coexistence pattern in forest carabid guilds (Coleoptera: Carabidae) on Vitosha mountain. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica, 50: 79-88. Szyszko J., Vermeulen H., Klimaszweski K., Abs M. & Schwerk A., 2000. Mean Individual Biomass (MIB) of ground beetles (Carabidae) as an indicator of the state of the environment. In: Brandmayr R, Lovey G., Zetto Brandmayr T., Casale A. & Vigna Taglianti A. (Eds.), 2000 Natural History and Applied biology of Carabid beetles. Pensoft, Sofia-Moscow, 289-294. TischlerW., 1949. GrundzugederterrestrischenTieroko- logie. Friedr.Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig, 220 pp. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 353-364 Monograph Mollusc assemblages of hard bottom subtidal fringe: a com- parison between two coastal typologies Andrea Cosentino & Salvatore Giacobbe* Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d’Alcontres 31, 98166 S. Agata-Messina, Italy ^Corresponding author, email: sgiacobbe@unime.it ABSTRACT The mollusc assemblages of subtidal fringe from two different coastal typologies are described in their qualitative and quantitative features. The large-scale spatial investigation has been carried out in the lava cliffs of Catania and the conglomerate “beach-rocks” of Capo Peloro (Messina), whose assemblages have been compared by fourteen shallow sampling stations, spaced out hundred/thousand meters apart. The similarity/dissimilarity levels of the two assemblages have been evaluated throughout a set of eighty-six species, exclusive or common between the two areas. Both the assemblages were characteristic of an impoverished and highly variable photophilic taxocoenosis. The area was the main discriminating factor that determined the highest richness and abundance in the rough lava surface. The Catania as- semblage was more constant in species composition, with presence of exclusive bivalves, cue of a micro-sedimentary environment. The Messina assemblage was very variable in species composition, and its structure, dominated by motile gastropods, was evidence of a high energy environment. Differences in the structure and micro-topography of the natural substratum from the two areas, besides possible secondary influence of freshwater inputs and wave exposure, were factors mainly responsible for the observed patterns. The whole data set, with dominant and accessory taxa, involves a relevant contribution from the deeper subtidal as- semblage; despite of their ephemeral character, these assemblages contribute to maintain the local biodiversity on a broader spatial scale. KEY WORDS Biodiversity; Geographical trend; Mediterranean Sea; Molluscs; Rocky shores. Received 21.02.2015; accepted 20.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6th- 1 8th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION It is known that species distribution and related biodiversity levels are stressed by the interaction between biotic and abiotic factors, which detennine a hierarchy of processes that operate at different spatio-temporal scales (Underwood & Chapman, 1996). Spatial patterns of intertidal hard bottom assemblages have been widely investigated in the past, both on a broad geographic (Blanchette et al., 2008) and local scale (Reichert et al., 2008). In the Mediterranean basin, despite of the prevalent microtidal regime, the intertidal zone has received much attention (Benedetti-Cecchi, 2001; Fraschetti et al., 2001). By contrast, rocky subtidal as- semblages have been investigated to a lesser extent, except for the impacted sessile communities (Fraschetti et al., 2001) and few groups of vagile invertebrates, such as polychaetes (Giangrande, 1988; Giangrande et al., 2003). The mollusc taxocoene, notwithstanding its relevant diversification and wide geographic and 354 Andrea Cosentino & Salvatore Giacobbe ecological distribution, has been poorly investigated in its quantitative aspects, and patterns of spatial distribution have been rarely described (Chemello & Milazzo, 2002; Terlizzi et al., 2003). Mollusc spatial patterns and relationships with substratum complexity have been locally investigated, for example in the Aegean Sea (Antoniadou et al., 2005). Within the subtidal zone, the upper level (the fringe) has received a scanty interest in the past, and the associated mollusc assemblages are probably the less known from the Mediterranean phytal zones. The subtidal fringe, characterized by strong environmental constrains and high levels of envir- onmental disturbance, shows different degrees of substratum complexity which might affect the spatial patterns of flora and fauna (Guichard et al., 2001). Furthermore, the ephemeral character of the algal covering might accentuate the spatial and temporal dynamics of the associated vagile fauna, as proved for shallower as well as deeper subtidal assemblages (Benedetti-Cecchi & Cinelli, 1992). In this respect, the Ionian coasts of Sicily might rep- resent an appropriate case-study, due to rocky cliff typologies that are quite different from the northern coastline (of metamorphic and sedimentary origin) to the central (of mainly volcanic origin) and southern (carbonatic origin) coastlines. In this paper mollusc assemblages of subtidal fringe are investig- ated from two rocky coasts of different origin, volcanic and sedimentary, respectively located in the Strait of Messina and in the northern side of the Gulf of Catania. Aims of the present investigation are: i) to de- scribe the mollusc assemblages, which characterise the upper subtidal fringe from two different coastal typologies; ii) to investigate their similarity/ dissimilarity at different spatial scales (kilometers, hundreds of kilometers); iii) to highlight the main (a)biotic constrains which may affect the as- semblage composition and structure. MATERIAL AND METHODS Study areas The study area, which corresponds to the northern segment of the Ionian coast of Sicily (Fig. 1), has a regular N 30°-trending shoreline, extend- ing for a total length of 1 07 km from Capo Peloro (North) to Catania (South). On the basis of geolo- gical and morphological characters, two sub- provinces can be distinguished. The northern seg- ment, consisting of the Ionian side of the Peloritani chain from Capo Peloro to the city of Riposto (first 75 km), is characterized by Kabilo-Calabride terraces; the southern segment, made up of the vol- canites from the eastern flank of Mt Etna, reaches the city of Catania (Longhitano & Zanini, 2006). Since it represents a microtidal oceanographic framework, coastal dynamics are mainly influenced by waves that approach the coast obliquely, and by long-shore southward currents, controlled by the complex hydrological dynamics of the Messina Strait. Such hydrodynamics interact with clockwise, offshore circulation of the Ionian Sea. Wave energy affects the coastline differently, since northwards it is mitigated by the action of the Messina Strait tidal currents, whilst southwards the near shore circulation is often diffracted and inhib- ited by the great complexity of the volcanic shoreline, marked by small coastal promontories and indentations (Figs. 2, 3). In the Sicily side of the Messina Strait the coastline is almost homogen- eous with a mid-Pleistocene conglomerate out- crops, along almost two kilometers of shoreline (Bottari et al., 2005). Such so-called “beach-rock”, which represents the sole hard substratum of natural origin, is frequently connected to artificial break- waters and other concrete structures (Figs. 4, 5). Rivers, as the main points of sedimentary input, are localized in the southern part and don’t affect the Messina Strait. Freshwater inputs are mostly of phreatic origin in Catania, whilst in Messina sta- tions they are mediated by the Capo Peloro Lagoon, throughout the two canals “Faro” and “Due Torri”. Sampling and analysis The sampling strategy has been based on two levels at different spatial scale (Fig. 1). The first level (100 km scale) distinguished the two areas of Messina (Capo Peloro) and Catania (Ognina). At the second level, seven stations per area have been located along 1.9 km (Messina) and 5 km of coast (Catania) respectively, according to the two main substratum typologies (natural vs. artificial), wave exposures (exposed vs. sheltered), slope (vertical vs. horizontal). The presence or absence of fresh- water inputs was also considered. In spring 2002 Mollusc assemblages of hard bottom subtidal fringe: a comparison between two coastal typologies 355 Figure 1. Study area. Messina (upper pane) and Catania (lower pane) coastlines with sampling distribution. Figures 2-5. Study site. Figs. 2, 3. Messina shoreline with conglomeratic “beach-rocks”. Figs. 4, 5. Catania shoreline with basaltic rocks. 356 Andrea Cosentino & Salvatore Giacobbe two random replicates of 25x25 cm scraped surface were carried out for each station, ten meters spaced out (pooled data), in a shallow subtidal fringe from 0 to 0.3 m depth. Substratum typology and algal covering were preliminarily recorded on field. In laboratory, samples were washed throughout a 0.250 mm mesh sieve and the retained mac- robenthic fauna was separated from algae throu- ghout a manual centrifuge. Particles smaller than 0.250 mm were considered as “sediment” and their amount evaluated as volume and dry weight (80°C/24 h). Algae were investigated in their structure by dominant taxa, fresh and dried total biomass, total fresh volume and degree of branching, in accordance with Edgar (1983). Besides, the charac- terising algae were distinguished in the main func- tional groups of encrusting, thread-like and branched thallii, according to Littre & Arnold (1982). The macro-zoobenthos (>0.250 mm sieved frac- tion) has been sorted out under the stereomicro- scope at the Phylum/Classis/Ordo levels. Molluscs have been determined at the species level, and respective abundances evaluated. The univariate and multivariate statistical parameters have been elaborated by means of PRIMER 6.0 software package. Main factors potentially affecting as- semblage composition and structure were selected a priori and tested by the analysis of similarity procedure (ANOSIM) for one way and two way crossed designs. The selected abiotic factors were the sampling area (two fixed levels), the sampling station (six random levels), the site exposure (two fixed levels), the substratum typology (two fixed levels), slope (two fixed levels), freshwater inputs (two random levels), entrapped sediment (two random levels). The selected biotic factors were the algal cover- ing (three fixed levels), algal volume (three random levels), dominant algal taxa (seven random levels) and the algal functional groups (three random levels). The similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER) highlighted for those species that were more responsible for dissimilarity between areas. RESULTS The whole examined sample set provided a total of 86 species, 46 of which were exclusively collec- ted in Catania and 2 1 were exclusively recorded in Messina, while 22 species were common to the two areas (Table 1). Gastropod species were the most numerous, with 63 species, 34 of which were col- lected only in Catania and 18 only in Messina, plus 11 shared species; half of the 18 bivalve species were exclusively found in Catania, with respect to the two species exclusively recorded in Messina, whilst other 7 species were collected in both areas. Polyplacophora accounted one shared species plus three taxa exclusively found in Catania and one in Messina (Fig. 6). The number of species found in each station ranged from 7 (MEB) to 24 (MEE1) in Messina with a tendential north-to-south increase; such trend was more irregular in Catania, with 15 species in CT12 up to 37 species in CT6. Likewise the number of species, the abundances per station were higher in Catania (min 244, max 1960 individuals) than in Messina (min 27, max 1349), but they were irregu- larly distributed and not clearly related to the number of species, except for MEE1 where the peaks of the two parameters matched (Fig. 7). The trend of Margalef’s richness agrees with the number of species. Univariate diversity indexes showed different trends between the two areas. Shannon diversity and species equitability had more remarkable fluctuations in Messina, ranging from 0.52 (MEE1) to 2.04 (MEC) and from 0.16 to 0.89, respectively. Diversity in Catania was meanly 1.5 in most stations, except for values 2.1 and 2.2 in ■ Gastropoda BivaMa Polyplacophora Figure 6. Numbers of Polyplacophora, Bivalvia and Gastro- poda species exclusively recorded in Messina or Catania, and shared between the two areas. Mollusc assemblages of hard bottom subtidal fringe: a comparison between two coastal typologies 357 CD U (N LU IU LI Q Q LU LU S S S LU LU UJ HI j; f I- I- H h h h K Q U U U O U O CD < LU UJ U X LU Q s tu CM t- CM □ UJ UJ 111 LU Ui O CM "fr CO <£> ^ T- I- H H u o o O O O O d m < O N T- CM UJ LU LU Q 0 UJ UJ S S 5 LU LU liJ lil o cm oq to 'r ^ ^ H *“ h i- i- o o o o o o o CD < G CM r- (\| LU UJ UJ □ Q uu UJ S 3 S LU LU UJ LU O CM ^ 00 CD "t T" V V" j— |— ]— f— hhhOOQO QUO Figure 7. Trends of species number, abundance, Margalef richness, Shannon diversity, Pielou equitability observed in Ca- tania and Messina. For each area, sampling stations are ordered from North (left) to South (right). Figure 8. Nm-MDS ordination plot with superimposed cluster classification of Catania and Messina stations. Presence (Y) and absence (N) of freshwater inputs is also showed. CT6 and CT4 respectively; equitability was meanly low, likewise in Messina, but with a more regular trend (Fig. 7). The multivariate analysis highlighted further differences in the mollusc assemblages from the two areas. The Bray-Curtis similarity index and the related cluster analysis (square root transformed data, average linkage) discriminated, at lower 28% level, a first group A of all Catania stations plus two Messina stations, from a second homogeneous group B of five stations of Messina (Fig. 8). At a higher level of 37%, the former group was consti- tuted by a further sub-group A1 of six Catania stations, which were separated from a small sub- group A2 of stations from both areas. Such indica- tion of a different composition/structure of the Messina and Catania mollusc assemblages was sup- ported by the ANOSIM test, which indicated such area-related discrimination as a statistically signifi- cant factor (Global E 0.78, p-level 0.1%; number of permuted statistics greater than or equal to Global R: 0). Among the other factors that potentially affected the mollusc taxocoenosis within each area group, the occurrence/absence of freshwater inputs (Fig. 8) and “exposure” (exposed/sheltered), were the most significant. The ANOSIM test (two way crossed) for differ- ences between areas across all stations with fresh water inputs, also resulted statistically significant, 358 Andrea Cosentino & Salvatore Giacobbe with a Global R of 0.87 (p-level 0.4%; number of permuted statistics greater than or equal to Global R: 3). A 2D multi-dimensional scaling better clustered the stations submitted or not to such con- straint inside the Messina area, with respect to a weaker separation inside the other clusters (Fig. 8). Similarly, test for differences between the factor “area” across the factor “exposure” provided a Global R of 0.82, but with a lower significance level of 1.3% (number of permuted statistics greater than or equal to Global R: 1). The hypo- thesis of a possible interaction of the two local affecting factors was less strictly supported by test for differences between “freshwater inputs” across all “exposure”, which provided a Global R of 0.79, but with p-level 4% (number of permuted statistics greater than or equal to Global R:l); in this respect, the general absence of freshwater inputs in the medium and high exposed stations should be noted. All the other abiotic and biotic factors, tested with ANOSIM, did not produce significant differences among the selected levels. The Messina assemblage, with a lower average similarity of 32.9% (Table 1), was characterized by a small number of species, nine of which accounted for 9 1 .4% intra-group similarity. Most of similarity (49.1%) was due to two sole species, Pisinna glabrata (Megerle von Miihlfeld, 1 824) and Setia amabilis (Locard, 1886), with 33.7% and 15.4% respectively. The contribution of other species r api- dly declined down to 3.1% for Columbella rustica (Linnaeus, 1758). A residual 8.6% cumulative sim- ilarity was due to 3 1 rare or occasional species. The Catania assemblage showed a higher 41.5% sim- ilarity and was due to a small group of frequent species, eleven of which accounted for 91.2 cumu- lative percentage. Most of such a cumulative con- tribution was due to the species Cardita calyculata (Linnaeus, 1758), Pisinna glabrata and Barleeia unifasciata (Montagu, 1803), with an average con- tribution of 25.7%, 16.6% and 10.8%, respectively. Differently from Messina, the contribution of other species slowly declined, down to a minimum of 1.9% of Crisilla galvagni (Aradas et Maggiore, 1844). A consistent group of 54 less common species covered the residual 8.8%. The same three species that were main respons- ible for the internal similarity of the Catania area, (Cardita calyculata , Pisinna glabrata, Barleeia unifasciata ) had a primary role to determine the Figure 9. Nm-MDS ordination bubble-plots for some abundant and rare species which characterized the Messina and Catania mollusc taxocoenosis with superimposed cluster classification of the two areas. Mollusc assemblages of hard bottom subtidal fringe: a comparison between two coastal typologies 359 inter-group dissimilarity, although at lower extent, accounting respectively for 13.5%, 8.9% and 9.5% of the 79.3% average dissimilarity. Over a total of 86 species, just 40 accounted for 90% cumulative dissimilarity. It is of interest to note that a small group of species, Setia amabilis, Crisilla semis- triata (Montagu, 1808), Lasaea aclansoni (Gmelin, 1791), that weakly contributed to the intra-group similarity, played a significant role in determining inter-group dissimilarity (Table 1). Such repartition of species per area is well represented in the bubble plots of figure 9, showing the abundances of Setia amabilis and Barleeia unifasciata, which are highly characterizing species for the Messina and Catania assemblages, respectively. Other two less abundant species, which might be linked to a particular area, were Crisilla galvagni, exclusively found in Catania, and Gibbula philberti (Recluz, 1843) which characterized the Messina area. More in general, qualitative differences were recognized in some less frequent taxa that were exclusively or prevalently found in a single area (Table 2). Between the Rissoacea, for example, the genus Alvania Risso, 1826 and Crisilla Monterosato, 1917 best characterized the area of Catania (with eight and three species respectively) with respect to Messina (with two and none species respectively), whilst the genus Rissoa Desmarest, 1814 (two species) and Setia Adams H. & A., 1854 (two species) were exclusively found in Messina. Similarly, the genera Granulina Jousseaume, 1888 (three exclusive species) and Gibbula Risso, 1826 (five exclusive species) best characterised Catania and Messina shorelines, respectively. A possible vicariant distribution between some congeneric species was also noted, such as for Tricolia deshampsi Gofas, 1993 and T. miniata (Monterosato, 1884) sampled only in Messina, with respect to T. landinii Bogi et Campani, 2007 collected exclus- ively in Catania. DISCUSSION In this investigation, which provided the first quantitative data on mollusc assemblages from the Ionian subtidal fringe, a comparison between two areas, Messina and Catania, quite different in the typology of the natural substrata, has been carried out. Their spatial separation (almost 100 Km) and station distribution (less than 1 km spaced), replic- ated similar investigations on intertidal communit- ies which have put in evidence a highest grade of variability on a ten meter spatial scales (Kelaher et al., 2001) and even among replicates (Reichert et al., 2008). Such a local variability, in the present in- vestigation has been considered in terms of stochastic patchiness and resolved by replicate pooling. Such procedure allowed a better discrim- ination of assemblages per stations and areas. The fringe, as a peculiar aspect of photophilic habitat submitted to high levels of environmental stress (e.g. hydrodynamism, insulation, desiccation, freshwater inputs), was expected to be characterized by impoverished assemblages; in contrast, the total number of recorded species was high, in compar- ison with deeper subtidal assemblages both from western (Poulicek, 1985), central (Richards, 1983) and eastern Mediterranean (Antoniadou et al., 2005). Number of species and abundance were markedly higher in Catania with respect to Messina, probably due to the rough lavic substratum and a more irregular/uneven shoreline, which increases space availability, habitat complexity and shelter, with respect to the smooth conglomeratic beach- rock and connected concrete blocks. Although richer in species number and indi- viduals, the lava cliff did not substantially overlie the conglomeratic beach-rock in terms of mollusc diversity, that was moderately high in both substrata typologies. By contrast, equitability was low, thus testifying for a generalised de-structured condition of both the assemblages. In general, the studied mollusc assemblages showed a high grade of stochastic variability, especially in Messina, accord- ing to the wide fluctuation of univariate diversity indices and to the low internal similarity of each sample group. Nevertheless, statistically significant differences between the two areas, mainly due to a small number of dominant species (Kelaher et al., 2001) were found. Such differentiation of the two mollusc assemblages was moderately altered by the “intrusion” of two Messina stations in the Catania group, which might be viewed as an evidence of a cenotic affinity, rather than as an ecological trans- ition. In this respect, we note that most of the recor- ded molluscs are known to be ecologically related to the Mediterranean photophilic algal assemblage complex, with diversified preference in terms of depth, light, exposure. 360 Andrea Cosentino & Salvatore Giacobbe ME sh. CA ME sh. CA Polyp! acophora Gastropoda Cadochiton calculus Dell'Angelo & Palazzi, 1994 Haminoea hydatis (Linnaeus, 1758) 9 Acanthochitana err nit a (Pennant, 1 777) A ca n t ft oc hi ton a fascicu la to (Linnaeus, * Haminoea navicula (da Costa, 1778) * 1 767) Lepidochrtona monterosaioi Kaas & Van Belle. * OK as to mia imp roba hi Its O be r li ng , 1970 m 1981 Leptochiton cimicoides (di Monterosato, * Mi tra co rnicuta (Linnaeus, 1758) • 1879) * Nat tea rius h ebra ms ( Mart yn . 1786) • Gastropoda Ocinebrina hispidula ( Pall ary, 1 904) * A Ivans a ca need ata (da Costa, 1 778) * OK as to nidi a Koliofuni (Philippi, 1844) 9 Ah 'an ia cimex ( Linnaeus, 1758) * Omatogyra atom us (Philippi, 1841 ) 9 Alvania clathrellti (Segucnza L., 1903) * Partitions i ndeco ra (Bergh, 1881) * A l vania lanciae (Cal car a, 1845) 9 Part hen in a c lath rata (Jeffreys, 1848) Pisinna glabra tit (Megerle von Miihlfcld, 9 Alvania sea bru (Philippi. 1844) * - 1824) 9 Alvania simulans Locard, 1 886 * Pho reus rich ardi (Payraudeau, 1826) • Alvania subcrenula fa (B.D.D., 1884) * Pusil Una margin ata (Michaud, 1830) • Alvania Zetland tea ( Montagu. 1815) Ammonicera fischerima (Monterosato, * Rissoa similis Scacchi, 1836 • 1869) * li issoa i r arl ah i lis (Von M uh 1 fc Id l , 1824) * Aplysia parvula Mdrch, 1 863 * Setia a ma hi lis (Locard, 1886) * Aplysia fasciat a Poiret, 1789 * Setia sc id tie (A rad as & Benoit, 1 876) # Ba fleet a un ifasd ata (Montagu, 1803) * Sinezona cingulata (O.G. Costa, 1861) • Bit Hum lacteurn (Philippi, 1836) * Tri col ia ties 1 7? ampsi G ofas , 1993 * Bit titan reticula turn (da Costa, 1778) * Tricvlia miniata (Montcrosato, 1884) * Bulla striata Bruguicre, 1 792 * Tricolia lan Kind Bogi & Campani, 2007 • Centhiopsis nofronii Amati. 1 987 * Vexidum ebenus (Lamarck, 1811) Cerithium vulgatum Rruguiere, 1792 • Vitreolina incurva ( B, D.D.. 1883) Vitreolina philippi (de Rayneval & Ponzi. • Coiumbeda rustica (Linnaeus, 1758) Conus veutri cos its G me 1 in , 1791 • 1854) * Wi Ilia mi a gussoni (Costa O. G. , I 829) • Crisilla ben lamina (Monterosato, 1884) * Bjvajvia Crisilla gafaagni (Aradas & Maggiorc, 1 844) * Anonu’a ephippium Linnaeus, 1758 • CrisiUa semi striata (Montagu, 1808) * Area noae Linnaeus, 1 758 • Eaton in a pumila (Monterosato, 1884) m Barb alia barhatu (Linnaeus, 1758) • Epi torn u in p niched lutii ( B i v on a , 1832 ) * Bruch id antes pharaonis (P. Fischer, 1870) * Fissured a mt bead a (Linnaeus, 1758) * Card it a cahvuluta (Linnaeus, 1 758) * Fossa rus am hi git us (Linnaeus, 1758) * Cha ma grypho id es Linnac u s, 1 75 8 * Gibber til a Janssen i van Aa risen ct al., 1984 * Hiateda arctica (Linnaeus, 1767) # Gib hula ad an son ii (Payraudeau, 1826) 9 Hiatefla rugosa (Linnaeus , 1767) * Gihbuta ardens (Salts Marschlins, 1 793) * bus irus (Linnaeus, 1758) * G ib h ul a ph ilberti (Recluz, 1843) * La sue a adansoni (Gmelin, 1791) • G ib b ula racket t i ( Pa yr aud eau , 1826) * Lima lima (Linnaeus, 1 758) m Gib bid a turbi unities ( Dcshay cs, 1 835) 9 Muscat us cos tula tus ( Risso, 1 826) 9 Gib b ula um hi hearts ( Lin nae us. 1 758) * My ti taster minimus (Poli, 1 795) • Gib but a varia (Linnaeus, 1758) * Myfi luster sol i dus M ontcro sato , 1883 9 Gran a lino haucheti Gofas. 1 992 * Mvtilus gal lap ravine ia lis Lamarck, 1819 9 G ran 1 1 li rut m arg in ata ( B i vona , 1832) Grunulina vanhareni (van Aartsen et al.. * Ost t ea edufis Linnaeus, 1758 * 1984) * Ostrea stentina Payraudeau. 1826 * Gy rosea la lamellosa (Lamarck, 1822) 9 St ri urea lav tea (Linnaeus, 1758) • Table 1. Similarity Percentage analysis for species contribution to Bray-Curtis similarity (5”) and dissimilarity ( ' ) within each area and between the two areas respectively. Av., average; SD, standard deviation; N, abundance of individuals. Mollusc assemblages of hard bottom subtidal fringe: a comparison between two coastal typologies 361 SIMPER withm/between Area-Groups Group ME av. S' Group ME S’ Croup CT av. S' Group CT S’ av. 6 5/SD 5 contr.% 32.92 41.53 av. N av, N Cardita ca /yen lata 2.51 2.73* 15.64 10.68* 10,65 1,48 13.47 Barleeia un if a sc iata 0.00 — 9.96 4.48* 7.53 1,11 9.51 Pisinna g! a brat a 10.90 1 1 .09* 11.12 6.89* 7.09 1 .37 8.96 A mmonicera fischerian a 0,25 6.53 3.68* 5.22 0,94 6.59 Acantho chiton a crin i ta 0,29 — 4,53 3.79* 3.29 2,57 4.16 Myti /aster solidus 1,69 0.14 5.24 2,4* 3.21 0.84 4.06 Gib hula turb in aides 3,54 0.15 0.47 — 2.73 0,87 3.45 Setia amabilis 3.23 5.07* 0.00 — 2.71 0.87 3.43 Cris i lia sem is tri at a 0.00 — 3.79 — 2.62 0.49 3.32 Lasaea adansoni 0.00 — 2.57 — 2.29 0.46 2.89 Bittium reticulatum 0,34 — 2.62 1.43* 1.93 1.11 2.44 Eaton ina pit mi /a 1.05 0.07 3.37 1.35* 1.90 1.07 2.40 Cris ilia ga/vagni 0.00 — 2.71 0.06 1.81 0.97 2.29 Cris ilia beniamina 0.00 — 2.30 — 1.80 0.83 2.27 C a lum bell a n tsti ca 1.69 0.04 2.58 1.3* 1.73 l .36 2.19 Si n ez ana c i ngu la ta 0.00 — 1.94 — 1.12 0.51 1.41 Gib hula adamomi 1,1 1 — 0.40 — 1.03 0.77 1.30 Fissure! la it ubecula 0.00 — 1.45 — 0,98 1.01 1.24 Mitscu las cost it la (us 1.06 0.07 1.68 1.06* 0.93 1,17 1.18 Area noae 0.74 — 0.98 — 0.90 0.95 1.14 Gib hula ardetis 1.10 — 0.00 0.81 0.75 1.02 Bra chid antes ph ara onis 0.14 — 1.10 - 0.77 1,05 0.98 Myti las ga l lopro v inc 7 a l is 0,00 — 0,99 — 0.75 0,50 0.95 Aplysia panada 0.90 0.05 0.00 — 0.68 1.08 0.86 Alvania sc ah r a 0.00 — 1.01 — 0.65 0.68 0,83 Cham a gryph aides 0,29 - 0.57 — 0.56 0,74 0.71 Alvania lanciae 0.29 — 0.64 — 0.54 0.70 0.68 Gy rose ala lamellosa 0.29 — 0.52 — 0.46 0.84 0.58 A ca nthochi ton a fast * icu laris 0.00 — 0.69 — 0.45 0.40 0.57 G ih bul a ph Uberti 0.49 — 0.00 — 0.44 0.79 0.56 Omalogyra atom us 0.00 — 0.78 — 0.42 0.40 0.53 Aplysia fascia ta 0.00 0.53 0.42 0.40 0.53 Trie alia landinii 0.00 — 0.39 — 0.39 0.58 0.50 Alvania Simula ns 0.00 — 0.73 — 0.39 0.40 0.50 Inis irus 0.00 — 0.39 - 0.39 0.59 0.49 Gib hula racke d i 0.55 — 0.00 — 0.37 0.61 0.47 Ostrea edulis 0.00 — 0.40 — 0.36 0,60 0.45 Tricolia m in iata 0.49 - 0.00 — 0.35 0.60 0.44 Alvania can cel lata 0.00 — 0.49 — 0.35 0.81 0.44 Gran id ina v an ha re n i 0.00 — 0.52 — 0.34 0,60 0,43 Table 2. Distribution of mollusc species in the shallow sublittoral zones of Messina (ME), Catania (CA) and shared (sh.) between the two areas. 362 Andrea Cosentino & Salvatore Giacobbe Such melange of species tied to different envir- onmental conditions is explicated in literature as a trapping effect exerted by the branching algae towards the settling larvae and early juveniles (Poulicek, 1985). This supposed “branching effect” did not significantly affect the composition and structure of the mollusc assemblages, which clustered independently from typology and extent of algal covering. Such evidences do not agree with literature data that indicate a significant effect of algal architecture on the mollusc assemblage discrim- ination (Chemello & Milazzo, 2002; Pitacco et al., 2014; Antoniadou et al., 2005). By contrast, the hypothesis that redundant algal-associated assem- blages can play a key role for the maintenance of biodiversity of the broader geographical area (Antoniadou et al., 2005) is here supported. Moreover, contrasting effects of algal covering towards zoobenthic larvae should be considered, since the wave exposed fringe is submitted to a highest sediment/nutrient resuspension that is known to favour spores with respect to benthic lar- vae in space competition (Richmond & Seed, 1991; Oigman-Pszezol et al., 2004). Once developed, algae might favour larval recruitment and juvenile/adults surviving, providing food and pro- tection from predators and desiccation (Poulicek, 1985; Antoniadou et al., 2005), but limitedly to a short time period, due to their ephemeral character. Mollusc assemblages that were dominated by small sized species with a short life span reflected such an irregular and transient availability of resources in their high densities and low or- ganization levels. The algal assemblage, in turn, is driven by the substratum type and its (micro)to- pographic complexity, both of which directly and indirectly affect the settlement and persistence of benthic organisms. In this respect, the geo-litho- logical structure of the natural substrata and the related texture might be explicative for the ob- served patterns of diversity among the two areas far apart. The conglomeratic rocks of the Messina Strait is more even and less porous with respect to the basaltic surface of Catania cliffs, which is more irregular and richer in hollows and crevices. The more uneven surface, promoting phyto- benthic colonization, in turn improves shelter and sediment trapping, that is in accordance with the higher richness of the bivalve species observed in the Catania area. The less fluctuating Shannon H’ and equitab- ility of species/abundance of the Catania mollusc assemblage with respect to the Messina area, also support the hypothesis that substratum roughness acts as structuring factor. Other local factors, both related or not with the natural substratum typo- logy, do not play a recognizable role, except for freshwater inputs combined with shelter expos- ure. The effects of geographical distance, that might be more important than substratum type or roughness in determining assemblage structure (Guarnieri et al., 2009), might be also considered, in reason of the latitudinal gradient between the two areas. Such a gradient determines a southward temper- ature increase that near Catania marks the crucial 15°C seawater winter isotherm (Bianchi et al., 2012). In our opinion, the climatic gradient was not directly responsible for the quantitative differences between the two areas, but may partially explicate the different species composition. Some of the forty-six (Catania) and twenty-one (Messina) not shared species have a limited Mediterranean distri- bution, and some of these species are known from a restricted area, as the recently “rediscovered” Crisilla galvagni (Scuderi & Amati, 2012). CONCLUSIONS The mollusc assemblages from two subtidal fringes of eastern Sicily configure as an impover- ished aspect of the photophilic associated fauna, submitted to some strong environmental constraints that limit the number of characteristic species but allow the transient recruitment of opportunistic and occasional taxa. The investigated areas, although submitted to similar climatic and edaphic conditions, have dif- ferently structured substrata which result more or less favourable to species settlement and survival in accordance with high (Catania) or low (Messina) cliff roughness. The respective assemblages, although characterized by a high local variability, show some common traits that allow to recognize a real taxocoenosis. Some scarcely known species, mainly localized in the lava cliff, may be preferentially tied to such peculiar environment. The accessory taxa that are partially supplied by other nearby communities Mollusc assemblages of hard bottom subtidal fringe: a comparison between two coastal typologies 363 testify for the role of shallow fringe assemblages to maintain the biodiversity at local and at broader geographical scale. REFERENCES Antoniadou C., Koutsoubas D. & Chintiroglou C.C., 2005. Mollusca fauna from infralittoral hard substrate assemblages in the North Aegean Sea. Belgian Journal of Zoology, 135: 119-126. Benedetti-Cecchi L., 2001. Variability in abundance of algae and invertebrates at different spatial scales on rocky seashores. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 215: 79-92. Benedetti-Cecchi L. & Cinelli F., 1992. Effects of canopy cover, herbivores and substratum type on patterns of Cystoseira spp. Settlement and recruitment in littoral rockpools. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 90: 183— 191. Bianchi C.N., Morri C., Chiantore M., Montefalcone M. , Parravicini V. & Rovere A., 2012. Mediter- ranean sea biodiversity between the legacy from the past and a future of change. In: Stambler N. (Ed.), Life in the Mediterranean Sea: A Look at Habitat Changes: 1-55. Blanchette C.A., Miner C.M., Raimondi P.T., Lohse D., Heady K.E.K. & Boitman B.R., 2008. Biogeogra- phical patterns of rocky intertidal communities along the Pacific coast of North America. Journal of Biogeography, 35: 1593-1607. Bottari A., Bottari C., Carveni P, Giacobbe S. & Spano N. , 2005. Genesis and geomorphological and ecological evolution of the Ganzirri salt marsh (Messina, Italy). Quaternary International, 140-141: 150-158. Chemello R. & Milazzo M., 2002. Effect of algal archi- tecture on associated fauna: some evidence from phytal molluscs. Marine Biology, 140: 981-990. Edgar G.J., 1983. The ecology of south-east Tasmanian phytal animal communities. I. Spatial organization on a local scale. Journal of Experimental Biology and Ecology, 70: 1319-1329. Fraschetti S., Bianchi C.N., Terlizzi A., Fanelli G., Morri C. & Boero F., 2001. Spatial variability and human disturbance in shallow subtidal hard substrate as- semblages: a regional approach. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 212: 1-12. Giangrande A., 1988. Polychaete zonation and its relation to algal distribution down a vertical cliff in the western Mediterranean (Italy): a structural analysis. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 120: 263-276. Giangrande A., Delos A.L., Fraschetti S., Musco L., Licciano M. & Terlizzi A., 2003. Polychaete as- semblages along a rocky shore on the South Adriatic coast (Mediterranean Sea): patterns of spatial distri- bution. Marine Biology, 143: 1109-1116. Guarnieri G., Terlizzi A., Bevilacqua S. & Fraschetti S., 2009. Local vs regional effects of substratum on early colonization stages of sessile assemblages. Biofoul- ing: The Journal of Bioadhesion and Biofilm Research, 25: 593-604. Guichard F., Bourget E. & Robert J.-L., 2001. Scaling the influence of topographic heterogeneity on inter- tidal benthic communities: alternate trajectories mediated by hydrodynamics and shading. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 217: 27-41. Kelaher B.P., Chapman M.G. & Underwood A. J., 2001. Spatial patterns of diverse macrofaunal assemblages in coralline turf and their association with environ- mental variables. Journal of Marine Biological Associationof United Kingdom, 81: 917-930. Littre M.M. & Arnold K.E., 1982. Primary productivity of marine macroalgal functional-form groups from southwestern North America. Journal of Phycology, 18: 307-311. Longhitano S. & Zanini A., 2006. Coastal models and beach types in ne Sicily: how does coastal uplift influence beach morphology? Italian Journal of Quaternary Sciences, 19: 103-117. Oigman-Pszczol S.S., de O. Figueiredo M.A. & Creed J.C., 2004. Distribution of benthic communities on the tropical rocky subtidal of Armagao dos Buzios, Southeastern Brazil. Marine Ecology, 25: 173-190. Pitacco V., Orlando-Bonaca M., Mavric B., Popovic A. & Lipej L., 2014. Mediterranean Marine Science, 15: 225-238. Poulicek M., 1985. Les mollusques des biocenoses a algues photophiles en Mediterranee: II. - Analyse du peuplement.Cahier de Biologie Marine, 26: 127— 136. Reichert C., Buccholz F., Bartsch I., Kersten T. & Gimenez L., 2008. Scale-dependent patterns of variability in species assemblages of the rocky intertidal at Helgo- land (German Bight, North Sea). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the U.K., 88: 13 19— 1329. Richards G.W., 1983. Molluscan Zonation on Rocky Shoresin Malta. Journal of Conchology, 3 1 : 207-24. Richmond M.D. & Seed R., 1991. A review of marine macrofouling communities with special reference to animal fouling. Bio fouling: The Journal of Bioadhe- sion andBiofilm, 3: 151-168. Scuderi D. & Amati B., 2012. Rediscovery and re-eval- uation of a“ ghost” taxon:t he case of Rissoa galvagni Aradas et Maggiore, 1844 (Caenogastropoda Rissoidae). Biodiversity Journal, 3: 511-520. Terlizzi A., Scuderi D., Fraschetti S., Guidetti P. & Boero 364 Andrea Cosentino & Salvatore Giacobbe F., 2003. Molluscs on subtidal cliffs: patterns of spatial distribution. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the U.K., 83: 165-172. Underwood A.J. & Chapman M.G., 1996. Scales of spatial patterns of distribution of intertidal inverteb- rates. Oecologia, 107: 212-224. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 365-370 Monograph On the rediscovery of the vermetid “ Siphonium ” gaederop Morch, 1861 (Gastropoda Vermetidae) with systematic and ecological observations on the early juveniles stages Danilo Scuderi Via Mauro de Mauro 15b, 95032 Catania, Italy; e-mail: danscu@tin.it ABSTRACT Some specimens of a not identified Dendropoma Morch, 1862 were collected in the Mediter- ranean. Further taxonomical studies allowed to identify this material as “ Siphonium ” gaederopi (Morch, 1861), a species never recorded again after its first description. It is here redescribed and figured on the basis of the mentioned collected material and after the study of the type material of Morch’s collection, among which the syntype is here selected. This species is assigned to Dendropoma , according to the morphological characters of the shell, radula, ex- ternal soft parts and operculum. The shell, the soft parts and the juvenile stage of D. gaederopi are here figured for the first time and compared to congeners and to Vermetus granulatus (Gravenhorst, 1831), similar only in shell morphology. The new findings of this species rep- resent the first certain record, after the doubtful locality of the original description. KEY WORDS Mollusca; Vermetidae; Siphonium ; rediscovery; Dendropoma', ecology; juveniles. Received 03.11.2014; accepted 21.01.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 16th- 18th 20 14, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION The genus Siphonium Morch, 1859 [not Link, 1807] was synonymysed by Keen (1961), who restored Dendropoma Morch 1861 as a good name for the genus, with D. lituella Morch, 1861 as type species. Scuderi (1995) had been recently reviewed the systematyc position of the two known Mediter- ranean species of the genus Dendropoma : D. pet- raeum (Monterosato, 1878) is synonymysed with D. glomeratum Bivona, 1832, while the studied type material of D. anguliferum (Monterosato, 1884) in the ZMR was not enough to establish whether this latter is a good species, so it still continues to have an uncertain systematyc position because of the lacking of recent material. Some spe- cimens of a third species of Dendropoma, markedly different from the two congeneric, has been recently recorded in the Mediterranean sea. This species corresponded to the description of “ Siphonium ” gaederopi Morch, 1861, which was described on material doubtfully reported from Spain and never cited in the recent time. The comparison of the spe- cimens found with the type material of this latter species, housed in ZMUC, confirmed the previous diagnosis. A syntype is here selected among the material of the lot GAS-216. The shell of adult specimens of D. gaederopi has a close morphological resemblance with that of another Mediterranean species, Vermetus granu- latus (Gravenhorst, 1831). 366 Danilo Scuderi In particular the former is very similar to a morphotype of the latter, called “form A” (Scuderi, 1999), but has different protoconch and operculum and the colour pattern of external soft parts is peculiar too. Differences on the shell sculpture of sub-adult shells of the two species (see remarks) are discriminating too. MATERIAL AND METHODS Living samples of D. gaederopi were collected by undermining the shells from hard substrates at -4/18 m depth; empty shells and juveniles stages were collected among the shell grit drawn at -35 m depth collected handly with ARA. Pictures of the external soft parts were obteined by observing the living animals in aquarium. Type material of “ Siphonium ” gaederopi were examined from the Morch’s collection stored in ZMUC. ACRONYMS. AGC: Alfio Germana collection, Catania, Italy; ARC: Agatino Reitano collection, Catania, Italy; DISTEBA: Department of Biolo- gical and Environmental Science and Technologies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy; ISMAR-CNR: Istituto di Scienze Marine, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Genoa, Italy; ZMR: Zoological Museum, Rome, Italy; ZMUC: Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. SYSTEMATICS Dendropoma gaederopi (Morch, 1861) Examined material. Type material. Four lots in ZMUC labelled GAS 215/216/217/218, with two labels, probably in Morch’s handwriting (Figs. 13, 14) and the label of the Museum (Fig. 15), were constituted by several tens of speci- mens; one specimen on Spondylus gaederopus Linnaeus 1758 is here selected as syntype among the lot GAS 216 (Fig. 1). Other examined material. Agrigento, SW-Sicily, Italy: Linosa Is., “Cala Pozzolana di Levante”, -4/6 m, on ancient earthenwares; same locality, 7 living specimens, -18m, on the shell of a living Charonia tritonis variegata (Lamarck, 1816); “Faro”, -35 m, shell-grit, 2 shells; “Punta Arena Bianca”, infralit- toral shell-grit, 1 shell. Siracusa, SE-Sicily, Italy: Vendicari, beached shell-grit, 1 shell on the upper valve of Spondylus gaederopus Linnaeus, 1758; Marzamemi, 3 living specimens on calcareous stones, -5/6m (ARC and AGC). Lecce, S-Apulia, Italy: Otranto, 1 specimen with operculum and 4 protoconchs, on calcareous stones, -5/1 Om. Description. Shell solid, generally funnel involved, with the last tele-whorl rounded and equal to the half of the entire shell (Figs. 2-5). Sculpture constituted by dorsal longitudinal keels, variable in number (often 2), which could produce striking spiny formations in large specimens. Between the keels, numerous and concentric lamellae cover the surface of the shell, particularly in young specimens (Figs. 3, 4). The mouth is rounded and has a diameter of 2-2.5 mm in adult specimens (Fig. 5): in the syntype here selected the external diameter of the aperture is 5.8 mm. Like in many species of Dendropoma , an eroded scar is often visible on the substratum around the apertural opening. The basal portion of the ex- ternal side of the tube forms a second labial lip, that leans on the substratum. Dense mass of indi- viduals were not observed, except one little cluster among type material (GAS 2 1 6) of about 20 shells of various size on a fragment of a large Bivalve, maybe a Spondylus Linnaeus, 1758. The living animal (Fig. 8) is yellow-cream in colour, becoming red-orange on the anterior part of the cephalo-thorax, metapodium and foot, around the operculum; very small black spots are visible too. Black shade are present on the dorsal part and around the base of the cephalic tentacles and the mouth, wich are both yellow in colour; the mantle edge is yellow with black alternate lines. The operculum (Figs. 6, 7) is large as the aper- ture and is quite different from that of all the congeners, being reverse-cone shaped, with the concave part upward, relatively deep and brown in color, often occupied by encrusting calcareous algae. The convex downward part is glossy and red-chestnut in color and do not present, unlike the two congeners, any depression around the central large button, but only a thin, almost undetectable scar. Protoconch (Figs. 9-11) 0.5 mm high and 0.6 mm wide, swollen, but compressed superiorly and inferiorly, constituted by 1 and U smooth whorls. Rediscovery of t/ie“Siphonium” gaederopi (Gastropoda Vermetidae) with observations on the early juveniles stages 367 A first embrional shell, separated from the rest of the protoconch, is distinguishable (Fig. 10). Early developmental stages. Usually D. gaederopi has a not polygirate protoconch: the presence of a first embryonic nucleus, separated from the rest of the protoconch shell, suggest that this species could have a planctonic stage, which allow the diffusion of the species. Few juveniles found among shell grit and undoubtedly belong- ing to D. gaederopi , however, show one or two additional protoconch whorls (Fig. 12), confirm- ing the possibility of some vermetids to produce more than one type of larval stage depending on seasons (Scuderi & Cantone, 2007). Moreover the first protoconch whorl seem to have a different coiling axis, differing of about 45° from that of the rest of the protoconch. This character, ob- served on other species of the same genus, could have phylogenetic implications. This changing of axis coiling in the protoconch seem to anticipate the subsequent changing of 90° of the first tele- whorl, which allow vermetids to settle on the sub- stratum. Distribution. Except for the doubtful locality reported in the original description (“...probably from Spain ”), this species is known only from the material here examined, from S-Italy to Pelagie Is., between Sicily andN-African coasts of Libya. Not full grown specimens are easily mistakable with other congeners or with V. granulatus and this could reduce the real geographical distribution of the species along the Mediterranean and the E- Atlantic. Remarks. Dendropoma gaederopi was collec- ted from the very shallow to the deeper fringe of infralittoral, 4/35 m depth, often on big shells, like Spondylus or Charonia Gistel, 1847: this habit ap- pear not similar to the Mediterranean congeneric species, which are present on rocks in intertidal and upper infralittoral zones. Further findings of this species in S-Apulian, cited as Dendropoma sp. (Terlizzi et al., 2003; Scuderi & Terlizzi, 2012), seem to suggest that it could be present in a wider geographical area, mainly in South Mediterranean, but it probably still remain unre- cognized, due to taxonomical difficulty in its identification. Morch well described D. gaederopi , clearly distinguishing it from the other species of “ Siphonium ” (= Dendropoma ). The Mediterranean congeneric D. cristatum (Biondi, 1857) results quite different on the basis of teleoconch’s shell sculpture mainly constituted by more dense and thin axial lamellae and only one spiral chord, the not smooth protoconch, the colour pattern of ex- ternal soft parts (Fig. 20) and the feature of the operculum (Figs. 16, 17) (see Scuderi, 1995 for further details). The analysis of the type material of the second Mediterranean species of Dendro- poma, D. anguliferum Monterosato, 1884, housed in ZMR (n. 21295), have stated the differences between this latter and gaederopi, even if the question of the validity of the Monterosato’s species remain opened (Scuderi, 2002). Moreover, D. gaederopi seem not to be a gregarious vermetid, like some congeneric species, which could produces wide “trottoir” in some localities (Hadfield et al., 1972; Safriel, 1975; Barash & Zenziber, 1985; Chemello et al., 1990; Scuderi et al., 1998), and seem to prefere deeper waters. Another Mediterranean vermetid is close sim- ilar to this species: except for the protoconch and the external characters of the soft parts, D. gae- deropi differs from V granulatus “form A” (Scuderi, 1999) by having a shell ambrate in color, with spiral sculpture constitued by only two (rarely more) axial ribs, which, in adult shells, produce spiny excrescences. In V. granulatus the basal portion of the external side of the tube never forms a second lip and no lamellae between the keels, nor scar eroded into the substratum are present. Moreover, as could be argued by pictures here presented, the operculum (Figs. 18, 19) is smaller and thin, the protoconch (Fig. 22) and external soft parts (Fig. 21) are different. DISCUSSION Dendropoma gaederopi is not reported in any recent checklist of the Mediterranean malacofauna (Bruschi et al., 1985; Sabelli et al., 1990-92; Bodon et al., 1995), even if it was cited as valid species by Monterosato (1892) fide Morch (1861-1862). The syntype here selected among the type series from ZMUC carries a black cross on the upper part of the shell, maybe to marck the semple from which 368 Danilo Scuderi k , , ZOOLOGISK MUSEUM, K0BENHAVN. 1 C% ^p r C ' rjcc ' 1 LoC ' /&&■/ f,. /9 14 Datum: svyb* cc^/ /3? 13 15 Fig. 1-14. Dendropoma gaederopi. Fig. 1. Syntype (ZMUC), on Spondylus gaederopus. Fig. 2. Shell, Linosa, aperture 0 1mm. Fig. 3. Shell, Linosa, aperture 0 1.5 mm. Fig. 4. Shell, not full grown specimen, Linosa, aperture 0 0.5 mm. Fig. 5. Shell, Linosa, aperture 0 3 mm. Figs. 6, 7. Operculum in downward and lateral (a) view, 0 1.5 mm. Fig. 8. Drawing of the animal 0 1.5 mm. Fig. 9. Protoconch and first tele-whorl, upward view, Linosa, 0.5 mm x 0.6 mm. Fig. 10. Same, detail of the nucleus. Fig. 1 1 . Pro- toconch and first tele- whorl, side view, Linosa, 0.5 mm x 0.6 mm. Fig. 12. Multispiral protoconch and first tele- whorl, side view, Linosa, 1.5 mm x 0.85 mm. Fig. 13, 14. Original labels in Morch’s handwriting (ZMUC). Fig. 15. Label of ZMUC. Fig. 16, 17. D. cristatum. Operculum in downward and lateral view 03.5 mm. Fig. 1 8 , 1 9. Vermetus granulatus. Operculum in downward and lateral (a) view 0 0.25 mm. Fig. 20. Drawing of the animal 03.5 mm. Fig. 2 1 . Drawing of the animal 01.5 mm. Fig. 22. Protoconch and first tele-whorl, lateral view, Vendicari, 0.6 mm x 0.5 mm. Rediscovery of t/ie“Siphonium” gaederopi (Gastropoda Vermetidae) with observations on the early juveniles stages 369 the operculum, preserved in a separate glass-tube, was obtained (the shell is breacked probably to draw out the soft parts). All the material was accom- panied by two series of labels: one original, prob- ably in Morch’s hand-writing; the second label of the ZMUC. An additional label reports: “ Following Bieler (1996) possible type(s) of Siphonium gae- deropi March, 1861”. With D. gaederopi the number of known Mediterranean species of this genus increase to three, but further and more exaustive studies should regard D. anguliferum to ascertain if it is really a good species. All vermetid species have normally gastropod- like coiled early developmental stages: some spown as free swiming larvae; others are crowling juven- iles at hatching. Hadfield et al. (1972) stated that nurse yolk assumption by the embryos influences the larval mode of life and dimensions, but only in Vermetus rugulosus both type of larvae could be sim- ultaneously produced (Scuderi & Cantone, 2007). The finding of more than one type of juveniles suggest that this species could take advantage from the planktonic lifestyle to settle on islands rocky environments and from the direct development to ensure specimen’s enlargement to the established population. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to Tom Schioette (ZMUC) for the kind loan of Morch’s type material; my friend Marco Faimali (ISMAR-CNR, Genoa, Italy) fur- nished logistic accommodation in Linosa Island; Agatino Reitano and Alfio Germana loaned their material and foumished accommodation in Mar- zamemi, Sicily. I am grateful to Antonio Terlizzi (DISTEBA, Lecce, Italy), who allowed the study of the Apulian materials. Finally, I am indebted to Jose Templado (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid) and Alberto Villari, for their hepful sug- gestions and the critical review of the text. REFERENCES Barash A. & ZenziberZ., 1985. Structural and biological adaptations of Vermetidae (Gastropoda). Bollettino Malacologico, 21: 145-176. Bieler R. 1996. Morch's worm-snail taxa (Caenogastro- poda: Vermetidae, Siliquariidae, Turitellidae). American Malacological Bullettin, 13: 23-35. Bodon M., Favilli L., Giannuzzi-Savelli R., Giovine F., Giusti F., Manganelli G., Melone G., Oliverio M., Sabelli B. & Spada G., 1995. Gastropoda Proso- branchia, Heterobranchia Heterostropha. In: Minelli A., Ruffo S. & La Posta S. (eds.), Checklist delle specie della fauna italiana, 14. Calderini, Bologna, 60 pp. Bruschi A., Cepodomo I., Galli C. & Piani P., 1985. Catalogo dei molluschi conchiferi viventi nel Mediterraneo. ENEA, Collana di studi ambientali: XII + 111 pp. Chemello R., Pandolfo A. & Riggio S., 1990. Le biocostruzioni a Molluschi Vermetidi nella Sicilia Nord-Occidentale. Atti 53° Congresso UZI, Palermo: 88 . Hadfield M.G., Kay E.A., Gillette M.U. & Lloyd M.C., 1972. The Vermetidae (Mollusca Gastropoda) of the Hawaiian Islands. Marine Biology, 12: 81-98. Keen A.M., 1961. A proposed reclassification of the Gasteropod family Vermetidae. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Zoology, 7: 181-213. Morch O.A.L., 1 861-62. Review of the Vermetidae (Part I-II-III), Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1860): 145-181; (1861): 326-365; (1862): 54-83. Monterosato A.T., 1892. Monografia dei Vermeti del Mediterraneo. Bullettino della Societa di malacologia italiana, 17: 7-48. Sabelli B., Giannuzzi-Savelli R. & Bedulli D., 1990-92. Catalogo annotato dei Molluschi marini del Mediter- raneo, vol. I— III, Libreria Naturalistica Bolognese, Bologna, 781 pp. Safriel U., 1974. Vermetid gastropods and Interdital Reefs in Israel and Bermuda. Science, 186: 1 1 13— 1115. Scuderi D., 1995. II genere Dendropoma (Gastropoda: Vermetidae) nel Mediterraneo. Bollettino Malacolo- gico, 31: 1-6. Scuderi D., 1999. Contributo alia conoscenza dei Ver- metidae mediterranei: Vermetus granulatus (Graven- horst, 1831) e suoi principali morfotipi. Bollettino Malacologico, 35: 45-48. Scuderi D., 2002. La famiglia Vermetidae Rafinesque, 1815 (Mollusca: Gastropoda): i tipi della collezione Monterosato serviti per la compilazione della “Monografia dei vermeti del Mediterraneo”. 63° Congresso Unione Zoologica Italiana. Rende (CS). Scuderi D., Terlizzi A. & Faimali M., 1998. Osservazioni su alcuni tratti della biologia riproduttiva di vermeti biocostruttori e loro ruolo nella edificazione dei “trottoir”. Biologia Marina Mediterranea, Atti XXVIII Congr. SIBM, 5: 284-289. 370 Danilo Scuderi Scuderi D. & Cantone G., 2007. Simultaneous ambival- ent reproductive strategy in the sessile gastropod Vermetus rugulosus Monterosato, 1878 (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia). 16th World Congress of Malacology, 20 July 2007- Antwerp, Belgium, 15. Scuderi D. & Terlizzi A., 2012. I molluschi dell’ Alto Jonio. Guida teorico-pratica di malacologia mediter- ranea. Ed. Grifo, Lecce. 108 pp., 41 Tavole. Terlizzi A., Scuderi D., Fraschetti S., Guidetti P. & Boero F., 2003. Molluscs on subtidal cliffs: patterns of spa- tial distribution. Journal of The Marine Biological Association of The United Kingdom, 83: 165-172. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 371-376 Monograph First assessment of the vermetid reefs along the coasts of Favignana Island (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea) Paolo Balistreri 1 *, Renato Chemello 2 & Anna Maria Mannino 1 1 D ip artim e n to di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farm aceutiche, Universita di Palermo, Via Archirafi 38. 90 1 23 Palermo, Italy; e-mail: requin.blanc@hotmail.it; anna m aria, m annino@unipa.it 2 D ip artim e n to di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, Universita di Palermo, Via Archirafi 28, 90 1 23 Palermo, Italy; e-mail: renato. chemello@ unipa.it Corresponding author ABSTRACT Intertidal vermetid reefs, particularly vulnerable to environmental changes and human activities, are now experiencing high mortality in several areas of the M editerranean Sea. Since the increase of knowledge on this habitat is important for conservation purposes, we provide a first baseline assessment of the vermetid reefs along the coasts of the Favignana Island (Marine Protected Area “Egadi Islands”). Preliminary results showed the presence of a true reef, similar to a fringing reef, displaying at least three local patterns, distinguishable for width (from 2.3 to 15.5 m), height of the outer and of the inner marg in (from 5.6 to 18 cm and from 8.3 to 26 cm, respectively) and number, width and depth of cuvettes. Moreover, significant differences in topographic complexity among the areas were evidenced whereas no correlation between coastal exposure and topographic complexity was found. KEY WORDS Bioconstruction; Favignana Island; habitat and topographic complexity; vermetid reef. Received 25.08.2014; accepted 30.01.2015; printed 30.03.2 0 15 Proceedings of the 2nd Interna tional Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6 th - 1 8 th 2014, Cefalu - Caste lb uono (Italy) INTRODUCTION Vermetid reefs are b io c o n s tru c tio n s built up by the gastropod mollusc Dendropoma petmeum (Monterosato, 1884) in association with some coral- line algae such as Neogoniolithon brass ica-florida (Harvey) Setchell & M ason. These bioconstructions are unique and highly diverse systems that play a fundamental structural role, as they protect coasts from erosion, regulate sediment transport and accum ulation, serve as carbon sinks, make the habitat more complex and heterogeneous and provide numerous habitats for animal and vegetal species thus increasing intertidal biodiversity (Pandolfo et al., 1 992; Pandolfo et al., 1996; Badalamenti et al., 1998). In the M editerranean Sea their distribution is restricted to the warmest part of the basin with the largest formations generally found off the coasts of Israel and Lebanon, but they have also been reported in Turkey, Crete, continental Spain and Baleari Islands, A lgeria, Morocco, along Maltese and Italian shores (Peres & Picard, 1 952; Molinier & Picard, 1 953; Molinier, 1 955; Safriel, 1975; Boudouresque & Cinelli, 1976; Dalongeville, 1977; Kelletat, 1979; Richards, 1 983; Laborel, 1 987; Azzopardi, 1992; Garcia-Raso et al., 1992; Templado et al., 1992; Bitar & Bitar-Kouli, 1 995a, 1 955b; Azzopardi & Schembri, 1997). In Sicily, large and mo re or less continuous ver- metid reefs are present along the north/northwestern 372 Paolo Balistreri et alii coasts between Zafferano Cape and Trapani and within the Marine Protected Area (MPA) “Egadi Islands” (Chemello, 1 989; Chemello et al., 1990a, 1990b; Badalamentietal., 1992a, 1992b; Chemello et al., 2000; Dieli et al., 200 1; Chemello, 2009). Isolated reefs are found at M ilazzo Cape and only small reefs are found around Taormina and Syra- cuse, on the eastern coast of Sicily, and on the Islands of Lampedusa and U stica, th at represent the limit of distribution respectively on the south and on the north of the Sicilian coasts (Chemello et al., 1990a; Chemello et al., 2000; Dieli et al., 2001; Consoli et al., 2008; Chemello, 2009). These biogenic constructions, enclosed in the SPA/BIO Protocol (B arcelona C onvention) are now threatened by environmental changes and human activities (e.g. pollution, climate change, ocean acidification) thus experiencing high mortality in several areas of the Mediterranean Sea (D i Franco et al., 2011; G alii, 2013; M ilazzo et al., 2014). Due to the high vulnerability of these habitats, action plans for their conservation should be a priority. We know that the increase of know ledge is essential for the conservation and protection of this highly valuable habitat. Since only a low percentage of Sicilian vermetid reefs are subjected to conser- vation and many of them are not yet investigated (Chemello, 2009; Chemello & Silenzi, 2011), with this study we provide a first baseline assessment of the vermetid reefs present along the coasts of Favignana Island (MPA “Egadi Islands”). The aim s o f the p re sen t stu dy were: i) to p ro vid e a first description of the reef typology and ii) to test the effect of the coastal exposure on the topographic complexity of the reefs. MATERIAL AND METHODS Study area The study was carried out at Favignana Island (MPA “Egadi Islands”), located approximately five kilometersfrom the west coast of Sicily. The Island, part of the Aegadian Archipelago, represent an example of a lower Pleistocene bioclastic cal- car enite, characterized by a typic association known as foramol (K il, 2010). The west side is character- ized by the presence of the calcareous Monte Santa Caterina (300 metres high), flanked by areas with lower relief. The mechanical and chemical erosion Figure 1. Location of the study areas: Favignana Island. produced detritic deposits that partially mask the abrasion platform. The eastern side of the mountain shows a high cliff in the northern part, that gradually dips to the south. The coastline is highly rugged and not very high. The south dipping surface might be the result of either depositional or erosional processes. From a geological point of view, two main tectonic units can be recognized: the Monte Santa Caterina and the Punta Faraglione. Vermetid reef analysis A preliminary survey allowed us to locate six study areas characterized by the presence of a vermetid reef: Faraglione, Pozzo, A rre Turinu, Grotta Perciata, Cala Rotonda and Stornello (Fig. 1). The areas were chosen in such a way to also test the effects of the coastal exposure on the vermetid reef topographic complexity. Three along the northern side: Faraglione, Pozzo and Arre Turinu, and three along the southern side: Grotta Perciata, Cala Rotonda and Stornello. In each area the reef topographic complexity was measured using a lm x lm quadrat (three random replicates). The 4 sides and the 2 diagonals of the quadrat were measured using a meter with a resolution of 0.01m. Topo- graphic complexity was calculated as the ratio between the registered measures (real measure, Xi) and the known measures of the used quadrat (Xn): X i/X n (Graziano et al., 2009 ). The more the ratio is far from 1, the more com- plex is the substrate. To describe the reef typology the following variables were considered: the reef width from the inshore towards the open sea (meas- ured using a meter with a resolution of 0.01m), the height of the inner and the outer marg in and the slopes of the margins (measured using a goniometer). First assessment of the vermetid reefs along the coasts ofFavignana Island (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea) 373 Data analysis Differences in reef topographic complexity were analysed using per mutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA, Anderson, 200 1). For the topographic complexity, the design consisted of three factors: Coastal exposure (Sd; two levels, fixed factor), Area (Ar; three levels, random, nested in Sd) and Site (St; three levels, random, nested in ArxSd).All multivariate analyses were based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarities of log(x + 1) transformed data and each term in the analyses was tested using 9999 random permutations of the appropriate units. The analyses were performed using the software package PRIMER 6 (Clarke & G orley, 2006). RESULTS Reef typology All the vermetid reefs are consistent with a true reef (according to Antonioli et al., 1999), displaying at least three local patterns, distinguishable for width, height of the outer and of the inner margin and number, width and depth of cuvettes. A descrip- tion of the different patterns are reported below. Pattern 1: Pozzo and Faraglione (northern side, Fig s. 2-5 ). Outer margin: wide, flattened and irregular. In the inner side, crevices were also present. Some- times at Faraglione are present two outer margins. Inner margin: Dendropoma petraeum is absent. Cuvettes: not many, not deep and with a variable width. At Faraglione they are mainly present near the outer margin. At Pozzo some of them are fullfilled of sediment. Study Width Height of the inner Height of the outer Slope of the inner Slope of the outer Areas (m) margin (cm) margin (cm) margin (°) margin (°) Fara- 7.03 ± 8.66 ± 1 8 ± 38.3 ± 45 ± glione 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.2 3 Pozzo 15.46 ± 1 7.33 ± 1 5.33 ± 45 ± 45 ± 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 Pattern 2: Grotta Perciata and Stornello (south- ern sid e, Figs. 6 -9 ) . Outer margin: thin and not continuously ar- ranged. inner margin: Dendropoma petraeum is absent. Cuvettes: not many and not deep. Study Areas Width (m) Height of the inner margin (cm) Height of the outer margin (cm) Slope of the inner margin (°) Slope of the outer margin (°) Grotta 7.3 1 ± 1 0.33 ± 1 5.66 ± 27.5 ± 42.5 ± Perciata 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 Stor- 5.10 ± 8.33 ± 8 ± 33.3 ± 29.16 ± nello 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 Pattern 3: A rre Turinu (northern side) and C ala Rotonda (southern side, Figs. 10-13). The reef is damaged. Outer margin: it has a variable height and sometimes it is absent. Some crevices can also be present togetherwith regrow th areas. Inner margin: Dendropoma petraeum is absent. Cuvettes: many and sometimes very deep. Study Areas Width (m) Height of the inner margin (cm) Height of the outer margin (cm) Slope of the inner margin (°) Slope of the outer margin (°) Arre 6.38 ± 26 ± 1 7 ± 26.6 ± 45 ± Turinu 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 CalaRo- 2.30 ± 12 ± 7.6 ± 4 1 .6 ± 38.3 ± tonda 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.2 3 Reef topographic complexity The PERMANOVA on the reef topographic complexity provided an evidence of significant differences in topographic complexity among the areas whereas no differences were recorded between the two coastal exposures (Fig. 14; Table 1). Source df ss MS Pseudo-F P(MC) Sd i 8 627 8627 0.349 0.77 1 Ar(Sd) 4 9 8876 247 1 9 9.1486 0.000 1 St [Ar (Sd)] 1 2 32423 270 1 .9 1 .8084 0.0098 Res 36 5 3 789 1494.1 Total 53 1 .9 3 7 2E 5 Table 1. PERMANOVA on the topographic com p lex ity data. 374 Paolo Balistreri et alii Figures 2-5. Scheme of the pattern 1 (Fig . 2 ) , F arag lio n e (Fig. 3), Pozzo (Fig. 4), Pozzo: outer margin (Fig. 5). Figures 6-9. Scheme of the p attern 2 (Fig. 6), Grotta Per- ciata (Fig . 7 ), S to rn ello (Fig. 8), Grotta Per- ciata: outer m ar- gin (Fig. 9). Figures 10-13. Scheme of the p a ttern 3 (Fig. 1 0), A rre T urinu (Fig. 11), C ala Rotonda (Fig. 1 2 ), A rre T urinu : outer margin (Fig. 13). First assessment of the vermetid reefs along the coasts of Favignana Island (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea) 37 5 Hprtlwm £rff $airth#f n Side NT HP NRT HT Ht Figure 14. Topographic complexity in the studied areas. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The vermetid reefs along the coasts of Fav- ignana are consistent with a true reef described along the north-western Sicilian coasts (Antonioli et al., 1999). The reef distribution around Favignana confirms the need of carbonatic substrates and of an abrasion platform for the form ation of true reefs (Dieli et al., 2001 ). All the reefs are characterized, along a transect from the inshore towards the open sea, by the tipical patches recognized for other Sicilian reefs (Chemello et al., 2000; Dieli et al., 200 1). The reefs width were in agreement with the values reported for other Sicilian reefs whereas the height values were lower (Dieli et al., 2001). Some differences were highlighted locally in the con- sidered variables, in particular in the m argins, in the depth and in the number of cuvettes. Data on topo- graphic complexity showed significant differences among the areas (small scale) but no relationship between the coastal exposure (large scale) and the reef topographic complexity was evidenced. Vermetid reefs play an important role as modu- lators of morphological coastal processes and as ecological “engineers”, making the habitat more complex and tridimensional and promoting marine biodiversity (Pandolfo et al., 1996; Chemello et al., 2000; Bressan et al., 2009). Therefore, much more attention should be paid to the study of the reef morphology and distribution together with the associated communities and the trophic processes within associated species. Moreover, since the easy accessibility of ver- metid reef makes it highly vulnerable to coastal human activity (Franzitta et al., 2006; Graziano et al., 2007), a correct planning in the areas where reefs are present, in order to minimize all potential environmental threats, should be a priority. REFERENCES Anderson M .J., 2001. Permutation tests for univariate or multivariate analysis of variance and regression. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 58: 626-639. Antonioli F., Chemello R.,Improta S.& Riggio S., 1999. Dendropoma lower intertidal reef formations and their p a la e o c lim a to lo g ic a 1 significance, NW Sicily. Marine Geology, 161: 155-170. Azzopardi L., 1 992. Aspect of the ecology of Vermetid Gastropods on Maltese rocky shores. 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The for- mations of vermetid gastropod DefldwpOtnCl petVCl- eum (Monterosato, 1 884) on the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula (Western Mediterranean). In: Giusti F. & Manganelli G. (Eds.) 1 992. Abstracts 11th Interna- tional Malacological Congress, Siena, 514-515. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 377-392 A preliminary checklist of the species of non-marine Molluscs from theAlbumi Mountains, Campania, Southern Italy (Mol- lusca Gastropoda Bivalvia) Agnese Petraccioli 1 , Paolo Crovato 2 , Ivano Niero 3 , Laura De Riso 4 , Camillo Pignataro 5 , Gaetano Odierna 1 & Nicola Maio 1 * 'Dipartimento di Biologia, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Universita degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Edificio 7, via Cinthia 21, 80126 Napoli, Italy 2 Via S. Liborio 1, 80134 Napoli, Italy 3 Via Cici 17/1, 30038 Spinea (Venezia), Italy 4 Ente Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni, Via Montesani, 84078 Vallo Della Lucania (Salerno), Italy 5 Fondazione I.RI.DI.A. - Museo Naturalistico, via Forese 16, 84020 Corleto Monforte (Salerno), Italy ‘Corresponding author, e-mail: nicomaio@unina.it ABSTRACT An annotated checklist of the species of non-marine molluscs from the Alburni Mountains (Salerno Province, Campania, Southern Italy) is reported. The research was carried out from 2010 to 2013 inside a Site of Community Importance (SCI) and a Special Protection Area (SPA), of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park. The non-marine molluscs sampled on the field were compared with data available from the literature and malacological collections. Up to now, only 12 non-marine Mollusc species were known from the Alburni Mountains through bibliographical data. In all, the malacofauna of Alburni Mountains is composed by 83 non-marine Mollusc species (73 species of land snails, and 10 species of freshwater molluscs). The presence of nine species (six species of land snails and three species of freshwater snails) was confirmed by our field investigation, four species (3 species of land snails and 1 species of allochthonous freshwater snails) were recorded only by bibliographical data and were not yet found. Our analysis identifies 70 species of non-marine Molluscs (64 species of land snails, 6 species of freshwater molluscs) recorded on the basis of field data which were not previously recorded from the study area. At least 1 1 species are new records for the Campania Region. Extremely interesting is the record of Vertigo angustior Jeffreys, 1830 a species protected in European Union by the Annex II of the “Habitats Directive” and listed as “Vulnerable” at the European level. A Red List of Threatened Species is proposed and the species were classified with the code of I.U.C.N. (Version 2014.3). Five allochthonous species were surveyed for the first time in the study area: 3 land snails: Lucilla scintilla (Lowe, 1852), Lucilla singleyana (Pilsbry, 1829) and Paralaoma servilis (Shuttleworth, 1852), and 2 freshwater snails: Potamopyrgus anti- podarum (J.E. Gray, 1843) and Ferrissia fragilis (Tryon, 1863). Four species are known exclusively from the literature: Vertigo ( Vertigo ) moulinsiana (Dupuy, 1849), Macrogastra (Pyrostoma) plicatula (Draparnaud, 1801), Cernuella virgata (Da Costa, 1778), and Haitia acuta (Draparnaud, 1805). KEY WORDS Non -marine Molluscs; Alburni Mountains, Campania; faunistics; conservation. Received 18.07.2014; accepted 29.11.2014; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6th- 1 8th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) 378 Agnese Petraccioli etalii INTRODUCTION The knowledge of the malacofauna of Campania (about 150 species, personal data; 13,595 sq Km) is far below than that of other regions. This is even more evident when we consider the protect areas of this territory as those of the Alburni Mountains whose malacofauna is virtually unknown (Fig. 1). In all Campania Region, only papers on check- list of Capri Island and Vesuvius National Park are known in the last 10 years (Petraccioli et al., 2005a, 2005b, 2006a, 2006b, 2007; Picariello et al., 2011); moreover there are only historical reports, nearly 100 years old, concerning the most common species and quoted with obsolete names. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to help bridge this gap by increasing the malacofauna knowledge of this group in an important area of the Campania Region as the Alburni Mountains, with particular reference to the species listed in the Annex of the Habitats Directive, in the Index of the protected fauna of Italy and in the various red lists (Manganelli et al., 2000a; Cerfolli et al., 2002; I.U.C.N., 2014). MATERIAL AND METHODS The Alburni Mountains are a calcareous massif in the Salerno Province (Campania Region) belong- ing to the Lucan Sub Apennines chain, located in the Eastern area of Cilento, near the borders between Campania and Basilicata. In North-East the range de- grades into the plain of Vallo di Diano between the valleys of the Calore Lucano, Tanagro and Sele rivers. The massif extends for about 250 km 2 . The study area (SCI IT8050033 named: “Monti Alburni”, and SPA IT8050055 named: “Alburni”) is included in Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park and covers 14 administrative municipalities (Aquara, Auletta, Castelcivita, Controne, Corleto Monforte, Ottati, Petina, Polla, Postiglione, San Pietro al Tana- gro, San Rufo, Sant' Angelo a Fasanella, Sanf Arsenio, and Sicignano degli Alburni) (see TEMI, 2010). A detailed investigation on the historical and cur- rent literature and a comprehensive study of Neapol- itan public and private molluscan collections were preliminarly performed. We also inspected the original sites reached by Costa (1874) 140 years ago. From 2010 to 2013 the field surveys were con- ducted in 127 sampling points (stations or plots) between 100 and 1742 meters above sea level (sum- mit of Monte Albumo/Panormo) in all suitable hab- itats present on the territory of the Alburni Moun- tains in accordance with the vegetation types reported in the land use map (1 : 25.000) available by the “Ente Parco”. Adult specimens and shells of non- marine molluscs were hand-collected through visual search, leaf litter and soil collecting and sorting. Samples were then air dried and sieved down to 0.5 mm mesh. Samples of sediment were screened with calibrated sieves. The cleaned up material was examined under lens and/or stereo microscope to sort the smallest fraction, namely. Fractions above 1 cm were searched by a Leica EZ4 stereo microscope (Leica Microsystems GmbH, Wetzlar, Germany), both incident and transmitted, and then photo- graphed with a digital camera. The specimens for ana- tomical exams were drowned in water and fixed in 75% ethanol. The reproductive apparatus was extrac- ted by means of scalpel, scissors and forceps. The illustrations of genitalia were sketched using a camera lucida mounted on the above stereomicroscope. The sampled specimens were collected with permission of the “Ente Parco Nazionale del Ci- lento e Vallo di Diano” (Permit no. 16341/ 19.10.2010). Two sampled specimens for species were deposited in the Museo Naturalistico of Corleto Monforte (Salerno Province), a museum acknowledged as an “institution of regional in- terest” (Decreto dalla Giunta Regionale Campania n. 2010 del 29/12/2008). In addition, when other specimen/species were collected, we preserved them in the private collection of the authors. The species identification was based on qualified dicho- tomickeys (Giusti & Pezzoli, 1980; Girod et al., 1980; Bech, 1990; Giusti et al., 1995; Kerney & Cameron, 1999). The taxonomic order and nomen- clatural arrangement of the list follow: Bodon et al. (1995), Manganelli et al. (1995, 1998, 2000b), Castagnolo (1995), Ponder & Lindberg (1996), Nordsieck (2002) and Bank (2011); the common names were based on Janus (1982) and on the web site: http://media.eol.org. For each species a brief note on the abundance in the study area is reported according to the fol- lowing classification: Very rare (sampled in 1-5 stations), Rare (sampled in 6-10 stations), Uncom- mon (sampled in 11-19 stations), Common ( sampled in 20-35 stations), Widespread (sampled in over 35 stations). The bibliographical and museological data were then reported. If present in the I.U.C.N. Red List, each species is classified A preliminary checklist of non-marine Molluscs from the Alburni Mountains, Campania, Southern Italy 379 with the code of Red List of Threatened Species (I.U.C.N., 2014) and Cuttelod et al. (2011). data from 1986. Classified as “EC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). RESULTS Species surveyed on the field Phylum MOLLUSCA Cuvier, 1795 Classis GASTROPODA Cuvier, 1795 Subclassis ORTHOGASTROPODA Ponder et Lindberg, 1996 Ordo ARCHITAENIOGLOSSA Haller, 1890 Familia COCHFOSTOMATIDAE Kobelt, 1902 Cochlostoma montanum (Issel, 1866) Cochlostoma montanum cassiniacum (Saint-Simon, 1878) Common, 34 plots, locally abundant. Museal Familia ACICULIDAE J.E. Gray, 1850 Platyla talentii Bodon et Cianfanelli, 2008 Rare, 10 plots, locally abundant (Figs. 2, 3). En- demic of Southern Apennine. Bodon & Cianfanelli, 2008. Classified as “NT” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and “NT” by I.U.C.N. (2014). Ordo NEOTAENIOGFOSSA Haller, 1892 Familia POMATIIDAE Newton, 1891 (1828) Pomatias elegans (O.F. Muller, 1774) Round-mounted Snail Common, 28 plots. Museal data from 1986. Figure 1. The study area: Albumi Mountains, S-Italy. 380 Agnese Petraccioli etalii Familia HYDROBIIDAE Stimpson, 1865 Mud snails Pseudamnicola ( P. ) cfr. moussonii (Calcara, 1841) Very rare, 1 plot. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cuttelod et al., 2011). Belgrandia minus cula (Paulucci, 1881) Very rare, 2 plots. Bodon et al. (2005). Classi- fied as “DD” and Endemic species in Europe by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and “DD” by I.U.C.N. (2014). Potamopyrgus antipodarum (J.E. Gray, 1843) New Zealand mud snail, Jenkins' Spire Snail Very rare, 2 plots (Fig. 4). Allochthonous species, introduced from New Zealand (Lori et al., 2005; Lori & Cianfanelli, 2007; Cianfanelli, 2009; Cutte- lod et al., 2011). Classified as “LC” by I.U.C.N. (2014). Bythinella opaca (M. von Gallenstein, 1848) Bythinella schmidtii (Kiister, 1852) Very rare, 4 plots. Bodon et al. (1999) in an adjacent locality; Bodon et al., 2005. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cuttelod et al., 2011 ). Familia ELLOBIIDAE Pfeiffer, 1854 Carychium tridentatum (Risso, 1826) Long-toothed Herald Snail Uncommon, 14 plots, locally abundant. Familia LYMNAEIDAE Rafinesque, 1815 Galba truncatula (O.F. Muller, 1774) Dwarf Pond Snail Very rare, 2 plots. Museal data from 1986. Clas- sified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Radix labiata (Rossmassler, 1835) Lymnaea {Radix) peregra (O.F. Muller, 1774) Radix peregra (O. F. Muller, 1774) Wandering Snail Very rare, 3 plots. Costa (1874): sub Limnaeus Gibilmannicus (see O. G. Costa, 1839). Museal data from 1986. Radix peregra is classified by I.U.C.N. (2014) as synonym of Radix balthica (Linnaeus, 1758). Radix labiata is classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011). Ordo PULMONATA Cuvier in Blainville, 1814 Subordo BASOMMATOPHORA Keferstein, 1864 Familia ANCYLIDAE Ancylus fluviatilis O.F. Muller, 1774 River Limpet Rare, 7 plots. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Ferrissia fragilis (Tryon, 1863) Ferrissia wautieri (Mirolli, 1960) Fragile Ancylid Very rare, 1 plot (Fig. 5). Classified as “LC” by I.U.C.N. (2014). Cryptic invader of Italian fresh- water ecosystems from North America (Cianfanelli et al., 2007; Lori & Cianfanelli, 2007). Subordo STYLOMMATOPHORA A. Schmidt, 1855 Familia PYRAMIDULIDAE Kennard et B.B. Woodward, 1914 Pyramidula pusilla (Vallot, 1801) Rock Snail Common, 24 plots, locally abundant. Pyramidula rupestris (Drapamaud, 1801) Rock Snail Very rare, 1 plot. Costa (1874). Familia VERTIGINIDAE Fitzinger, 1833 A preliminary checklist of non-marine Molluscs from the Alburni Mountains, Campania, Southern Italy 381 Vertigo ( Vertigo ) pygmaea (Drapamaud, 1801) Common Whorl Snail, Crested vertigo Very rare, 1 plot. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) Vertigo ( Vertilla ) angustior Jeffreys, 1830 Vertigo sinistrorso minore, Narrow-mounthed Whorl Snail Very rare, 1 plot (Fig. 6). Species protected in European Union by the Annex II of the “Habitats Directive”, and in Italy by the D.P.R. n. 357/1997 than modified by D.P.R. n. 120/2003. In Europe, this species is listed as Vulnerable (VU) (criteria: A2ac+3c) at the European level and at the level of the 27 member States of the European Union (Cuttelod et al., 2011). The species is regionally protected in Tuscany, Umbria and Emilia-Ro- magna. The species has been regarded in Italy as “NT” by Manganelli et al. (2000a). Classified as “LR” by Cerfolli et al. (2002), and “NT” by I.U.C.N. (2014). Columella edentula (Drapamaud, 1805) Toothless Chrysalis Snail Very rare, 2 plots. Classified as “LC” by Cutte- lod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cuttelod et al., 2011). Truncatellina callicratis (Scacchi, 1833) Rare, 10 plots. Endemic species in Europe clas- sified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011). Familia ORCULIDAE Pilsbry, 1918 Sphy radium doliolum (Bruguiere, 1792) Uncommon, 12 plots. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011). Pagodulina pagodula (des Moulins, 1830) Very rare, 1 plot. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cuttelod et al., 2011). Familia CHONDRINIDAE Steenberg, 1925 Rupestrella philippii (Cantraine, 1840) Very rare, 4 plots. Classified as “LC” by Cutte- lod et al. (2011). Chondrina avenacea (Bruguiere, 1792) Widespread, 36 plots. Museal data from 1874. (Costa, 1874). Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cuttelod et al., 2011). Familia LAURIIDAE Steenberg, 1925 Lauria sempronii (Charpentier, 1837) Rare, 8 plots. Familia ARGNIDAE Hudec, 1965 Argna biplicata (Michaud, 1831) Very rare, 4 plots. Classified as “LC” by Cutte- lod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cuttelod et al., 2011). Familia VALLONIIDAE Morse, 1864 Acanthinula aculeata (O.F. Muller, 1774) Pricly Snail Common, 21 plots. Classified as “LC” by Cutte- lod et al. (2011). Gittenbergia sororcula (Benoit, 1859) Rare, 9 plots. Locally very abundant. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011). Familia ENIDAE B.B. Woodward, 1903 (1880) Chondrula tridens (O.F. Muller, 1774) Very rare, 2 plots. Classified as “NT” by Cutte- lod et al. (2011). 382 Agnese Petraccioli etalii Jaminia quadridens (O.F. Muller, 1774) Uncommon, 17 plots. Locally very abundant. Museal data from 1986. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Merdigera obscura (O.F. Muller, 1774) Ena obscura (O.F. Muller, 1774) Lesser Bulin Uncommon, 11 plots. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cuttelod et al., 2011). Familia PUNCTIDAE Morse, 1864 Pune turn pygmaeum (Drapamaud, 1801) Dwarf Snail Common, 33 plots. Paralaoma servilis (Shuttleworth, 1852) Paralaoma caputspinulae (Reeve, 1852) Pinhead Spot Very rare, 2 plots. Allochthonous species, intro- duced from New Zealand (Lori et al., 2005; Lori & Cianfanelli, 2007; Cianfanelli, 2009; Christensen, 2012 ). Familia DISCIDAE Thiele, 1931 (1866) Discus rotundatus (Muller, 1774) Discus Snail, Rounded Snail Rare, 7 plots. Familia HELICODISCIDAE H.B. Baker, 1927 Lucilla scintilla (Lowe, 1852) Oldfield Coil Very rare, 1 plot (Fig. 7). Allochthonous species. The indigenous distribution for this species includes North America (Lori et al., 2005; Lori & Cianfan- elli, 2007; Cianfanelli, 2009). Lucilla singleyana (Pilsbry, 1889) Smooth Coil Very rare, 1 plot (Fig. 8). Allochthonous species. Originally probably from North America, intro- duced to Europe (Lori et al., 2005; Lori & Cianfan- elli, 2007; Cianfanelli, 2009). Familia VITRINIDAE Fitzinger, 1833 Vitrina cfr. pellucida (O.F. Muller, 1774) Pellucid Glass Snail Uncommon, 11 plots. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011). Familia PRISTILOMATIDAE T. Cockerell, 1891 Vitrea subrimata (Reinhardt, 1871) Common, 26 plots. Vitrea etrusca (Paulucci, 1878) Very rare, 4 plots. Vitrea contracta (Westerlund, 1871) Milky Crystal Snail Common, 26 plots. Familia ZONITIDAE Morch, 1864 Aegopis verticillus (Ferussac, 1822) Very rare, 1 plot (Fig. 9). Familia OXYCHILIDAE P. Hesse, 1927 (1879) Retinella olivetorum (Gmelin, 1791) Retinella olivetorum olivetorum (Gmelin, 1791) Common, 33 plots. Museal data from 1986. Oxychilus ( Oxychilus ) cfr. draparnaudi (Beck, 1837) Drapamaud's Glass Snail, Dark-bodied Glass snail Uncommon, 16 plots. Museal data from 1986. A preliminary checklist of non-marine Molluscs from the Alburni Mountains, Campania, Southern Italy 383 Mediterranea hydatina (Rossmassler, 1838) Very rare, 1 plot. Daudebardia rufa (Drapamaud, 1805) Widespread, 42 plots. Locally very abundant (Figs. 10, 11, 12, 13). Familia MILACIDAE Ellis, 1926 Tandonia sowerbyi (A. Ferussac, 1823) Keeled Slug, Sowerby's Slug Uncommon, 11 plots. Familia LIMAC1DAE Lamarck, 1801 Limax maximus Linnaeus, 1758 Leopard Slug, Great Grey Slug, Giant Garde Slug Rare, 6 plots. Lehmannia marginata (O. F. Muller, 1774) Tree slug Very rare, 1 plot. Limacus flavus (Linnaeus, 1758) Yellow Slug, Tawny Garden Slug Very rare, 2 plots. Familia AGRIOLIMACIDAE H. Wagner, 1935 Deroceras reticulatum (O.F. Muller, 1774) Netted Slug, Gray Fieldslug Rare, 6 plots. Deroceras invadens Reise, Hutchinson, Schun- ach et Schlitt, 2011 Chestnut Slug, Brown Field Slug, Longneck Fieldslug, Widespread Pest Slug Familia EUCONULIDAE Baker, 1928 Euconulus fulvus (O.F. Muller, 1774) Tawny Glass Snail, Brown Hive Rare, 8 plots. Familia FERUSSACIIDAE Bourguignat, 1883 Cecilioides acicula (O.F. Muller, 1774) Blind Snail Very rare, 5 plots. Cecilioides ( Cecilioides ) veneta (Strobel, 1855) Cecilioides janii (De Betta et Martinati, 1855) Very rare, 5 plots. Familia SUBULINIDAE P. Fischer et Crosse, 1877 Rumina decollata (Linnaeus, 1758) Decollate Snail Very rare, 4 plots. Familia OLEACINIDAL H. Adams et A. Adams, 1855 Poiretia dilatata (Philippi, 1836) Common, 31 plots. Museal data from 1986. Familia TE S TACELLID AE J.E. Gray, 1840 Testacella scutulum G.B. Sowerbyi, 1821 Shield Shelled Slug Very rare, 4 plots. Familia CLAUSILIIDAE J.E. Gray, 1855 Door Snails Medora sp. Very rare, 4 plots. Very rare, 3 plots. 384 Agnese Petraccioli etalii Cochlodina ( Cochlodina)laminata (Montagu, 1803) Plaited Door Snail Rare, 6 plots. (Costa, 1874). Charpentieria ( Stigmatica ) paestana (Philippi, 1836) Siciliaria paestana (Philippi, 1836) Widespread, 42 plots. Locally abundant. Charpentieria ( Stigmatica ) cfr. ernae (Fauer, 1978) Very rare, 2 plots. Museal data from 1970. Endemic of Southern Appennine. (Fauer, 1978; Welter- Schultes, 2012; Nordsieck, 2013). Macrogastra ( Pyrostoma ) attenuata (Ross- massler, 1835) Macrogastra ( Pyrostoma ) attenuata iriana (Pol- lonera, 1885) Lined door snail Very rare, 2 plots. Clausilia cruciata (S. Studer, 1820) Clausilia cruciata bonellii E. Von Martens, 1873 Very rare, 3 plots. Museal data before 1950. Familia HYGROMIIDAE Tiyon, 1866 Xerotricha conspurcata (Drapamaud, 1801) Very rare, 2 plots. Museal data from 1986. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011). Hygromia cinctella (Drapamaud, 1801) Girdled Snail Rare, 8 plots. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (201 1) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cuttelod et al., 2011). Cernuella ( Cernuella ) cisalpina (Rossmassler, 1837) Common, 21 plots. Locally abundant. Museal data from 1986. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cuttelod et al., 2011). Cernuella (Xerocincta) neglecta (Drapamaud, 1 805) Luddesdown Snail, Neglected dune snail Very rare, 3 plots. Museal data from 1986. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cutte- lod et al., 2011). Cernuellopsis ghisottii Manganelli etGiusti, 1988 Very rare, 3 plots. Hallgas, com. pers., 2013. This species is endemic to Italy. Classified as “VU” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014) (IUCN Criteria (Europe) (version 3.1): Blab(iii)+2ab(iii). Endemic species in Europe (Cuttelod et al., 2011). Trochoidea ( Trochoidea ) pyramidata (Dra- parnaud, 1805) Very rare, 2 plots. Classified as “LC” by Cutte- lod et al. (2011). Trochoidea ( Trochoidea ) trochoides (Poiret, 1789) Very rare, 2 plots. Museal data from 1985. Clas- sified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011). Monacha ( Monacha ) cfr. cartusiana (O.F. Muller, 1774) Chartreuse Snail, Carthusian Snail Common, 35 plots. Museal data from 1986. Classified as “LC”by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cutte- lod et al., 2011). Regarded as “Edible species” in Tuscany and Umbria Region. Monacha ( Eutheba ) cfr. parumcincta (Menke, 1828) Common, 26 plots. Classified as “LC” by Cutte- lod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cuttelod et al., 2011). Familia HELICODONTIDAE Kobelt, 1904 Helicodonta obvoluta (O.F. Muller, 1774) Helicodonta obvoluta obvoluta (O.F. Muller, 1774) Cheese Snail A preliminary checklist of non-marine Molluscs from the Alburni Mountains, Campania, Southern Italy 385 Figures 2-9. Non-marine Molluscs from the Albumi Mountains, Campania, Southern Italy. Figure 2. Platyla talentii alive (Photo by N. Maio). Figure 3. Shell of Platyla talentii'. view. 3A. Particular of dorsal view. 3B. Particular of the mouth (Photos by N. Maio). Figure 4. Potamopyrgus antipodarum alive (Photo by N. Maio). Figure 5. Shell of F errissia fragilis'. dorsal, lateral and ventral view (Photo by I. Niero). Figure 6. Shell of Vertigo ( Vertilla ) angustior : apertural view (Photo by I. Niero). Figure 7. Shell of Lucilla scintilla', umbilical, dorsal and apertural view (Photo by N. Maio). Figure 8. Shell of Lucilla singleyana : dorsal, apertural and umbilical view (Photo by N. Maio). Figure 9. Shell of Aegopis verticillus dorsal, umbilical and apertural view (Photo by N. Maio). 386 Agnese Petraccioli etalii Rare, 7 plots. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cuttelod et al., 2011). Familia HELICIDAE Rafmesque, 1815 Chilostoma ( Campylea ) cfr. planospira (Lamarck, 1822) Uncommon, 18 plots. Museal data from 1986. Classified as “DD” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cutte- lod et al., 2011). Marmorana ( Ambigua ) fuscolabiata fuscola- biata (Rossmassler, 1842) Widespread, 27 plots. Costa (1874), Degner (1927). Museal data from 1874. Classified as “DD” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cuttelod et al., 2011). Marmorana {Ambigua) cfr. fuscolabiata wullei Kobelt, 1903 Common, 25 plots. Kobelt (1903a; 1903b), De- gner (1927), Bacci (1951), Alzona (1971). Museal data from 1903. Eobania vermiculata (O.F. Muller, 1774) Chocolate-band snail Very rare, 3 plots. Museal data from 2006. Re- garded as “Edible species” in Tuscany and Umbria Region. Cantareus apertus (von Bom, 1778) Green Garden Snail Very rare, 2 plots. Museal data from 1986. Re- garded as “Edible species” in Tuscany and Umbria Region. Cornu aspersum (O.F. Muller, 1774) Cantareus aspersus (O.F. Muller, 1774) Garden Snail, Common Snail, Brown Garden Snail Very rare, 4 plots. Museal data from 1986. Re- garded as “Edible species” in Tuscany and Umbria Region. Helix (Helix) cfr. delpretiana Paulucci, 1878 Rare, 9 plots. Museal data from 1986. This species is endemic to the Central Appenines in Italy. Classified as “DD” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cutte- lod et al., 2011). Helix (Helix) cfr. ligata O.F. Muller, 1774 Ligate Snail Uncommon, 11 plots. Museal data from 1986. Classified as “LC” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Endemic species in Europe (Cutte- lod et al., 2011). Classis BIVALVI A Linnaeus, 1758 Ordo VENEROIDA H. et A. Adams, 1857 Familia SPHAERIIDAE Deshayes, 1855 (1820) Pisidium casertanum (Poli, 1791) Caserta Pea Mussel Very rare, 5 plots. Classified as “LC” by Cutte- lod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Species exclusively known from the literature Familia VERTIGINIDAE Fitzinger, 1833 Vertigo (Vertigo) moulinsiana (Dupuy, 1849) Vertigo of Demoulins, Demoulins’ Whorl Snail Manganelli et al. (2001), Bodon et al. (2005). Find only in debris of Fiume Calore, near Grotta di Caste lcivita, Salerno Province, by S. Cianfanelli and E. Talenti on 1994. Species protect in European Union by the Annex II of the “Habitats Directive” and in Italy by the D.P.R. n. 357/1997 than modified by D.P.R. n. 120/2003. The species is regionally protect in Tuscany, Umbria and Emilia-Romagna. The species has been initially classified as “LRcd”(= Lower risk, conservation dependant) by Bouchet et al. (1999), then the species has been re- garded in Italy as “VU”(criteria: B2a, B2b) by Manganelli et al. (2000b, 2001). Classified as “LR” by Cerfolli et al. (2002), “VU” (criteria: A2ac) by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). A preliminary checklist of non-marine Molluscs from the Alburni Mountains, Campania, Southern Italy 387 Figure 10. Shell of Daudebarclia rufa: dorsal, apertural and umbilical view (Photo by I. Niero). Figure II. D. rufa alive (Photo by N. Maio). Figure 12. Genitalia of D. rufa (Sant’Angelo a Fasanella (SA), 1 160 m, 17.0V.20 13, N. Maio, P. Crovato & I. Niero legit. Figure 13. Internal structure of the penis. Acronyms in figures: AG= albumen gland; DBC= duct of the bursa copulatrix; E= epiphallus; EP= epiphallic pore; FO= free oviduct; GA= genital atrium; HD= hermaphroditic duct; F1G= hermaphroditic gland; P= penis; PPL= penis pleats; PR= penial retractor; Pro= prostate; PVG= perivaginal gland; PS = penis sheath; RS = reservoir of spermatheca; T= talon; UOS= uterine ovispermiduct; Va= vagina, VD= vas deferens. (Drawn by I. Niero). 388 Agnese Petraccioli etalii Familia CLAUSILIIDAE J.E. Gray, 1855 Macrogastra cfr. plicatula (Drapamaud, 1801) Costa (1874: sub Clausilia plicatula Drap.). Museal data before 1950. From the South of Italy are cited 3 subspecies, in addition to M. plicatula plicatula : M. p. amiaten- sis Nordsieck, 2006; M. p. apennina Gentiluomo 1868, and M. p. aprutica Nordsieck, 2006 (Nord- sieck, 2006). Familia HYGROMIIDAE Tryon, 1866 Cernuella cfr. virgata (Da Costa, 1778) Banded Snail Kobelt (1907). Museal data from 1986. Regarded as “Edible species” in Tuscany and Umbria Region. Familia OXYCHILIDAE P. Hesse, 1927 (1879) Oxychilus sp. Capasso (1958), Capolongo & Cantilena (1974). Ordo HYGROPHILA A. Ferussac 1822 Familia PHYSIDAE Fitzinger, 1833 Haitia acuta (Drapamaud, 1805) Acute Bladder Snail, European physa, Tadpole Snail, Bladder Snail, Pewter physa Sacchi (1964): sub Physa acuta. Allochthonous species. The oldest alien species of Italy probably native to northeastern North America (Lori et al., 2005; Lori & Cianfanelli, 2007; Cianfanelli, 2009). DISCUSSION Up to now, only 13 non-marine Mollusc species were known from the Albumi Mountains through bibliographical data (nine species of land snails and four species of freshwater snails), to which we add the new species listed in this paper for the study area. The presence of nine species (six species of land snails and three species of freshwater molluscs) are confirmed by our field investigation. Only four species (the land snails Macrogastra plicatula , Vertigo moulinsiana, Cernuella virgata and the allochthonous freshwater snails Haitia acuta ) were documented exclusively by biblio- graphical data and have not been confirmed by the field surveys yet (Fiorentino et al., 2008; Reise et al., 2011). Our analysis identifies 79 species of non- marine molluscs (69 species of land snails, ten species of freshwater molluscs) recorded on the basis of field data. In total the occurrence of 83 species of non-marine molluscs (73 species of land snails, 10 species of freshwater molluscs) was herein attested in the survey area representing approximately the 56% of the estimated fauna of Campania Region (about 150 species, personal data). At least 1 1 species are new records for the Cam- pania Region ( Aegopis verticillus, Cernuellopsis ghisottii, Lucilla scintilla, Argna hiplicata, Cernuella neglecta, Daudebardia rufa, Helix delpretiana, Pagodulina pagodula, Vitrina pellu- cida, Vitrea etrusca and Macrogastra attenuata). M. attenuata (sub M. lineolata ) and D. rufa were generically recorded from Matese Mountains (probably Molise) by Giusti et al. (1985). 70 species of non-marine molluscs (64 species of land snails, six species of freshwater molluscs), recorded on the basis of field data, have not been previously re- corded from the study area. Extremely interesting is the finding of samples of Medora sp.: it seems to be the second record of this genus for the region. The systematics of the genus Medora Adams, 1855 is in fact complex and, in many respects, still controversial. Regarding Italy, Nordsieck (1970) considered M. italiana (Kiister, 1 847) of the Central-Southern Apennines distinct from M. albescens (Menke, 1830) of the Balkan peninsula. In addition, he assigned to M. italiana various subspecies: only one from Cam- pania: M. i. italiana (Kiister, 1847) (locus typicus: Piedimonte d'Alife (= Piedimonte Matese, Caserta, Campania). Giusti et al. (1986) suggested that it was not possible to distinguish M. italiana from M. albescens with the subspecies M. a. italiana in the central part of Italy. The populations reported for Italy as M. dalmatina (Manganelli et al., 1995) were described by Nordsieck (2012) as a distinct sub- A preliminary checklist of non-marine Molluscs from the Alburni Mountains, Campania, Southern Italy 389 species. Preliminary data by Colomba et al. (2012) suggest that the genus Medora shows a much more complex and articulate differentiation than hitherto hypothesized by morphological surveys so far. An attempt to clarify its organization and internal struc- ture, at various taxonomic levels, a more detailed analysis including a higher number of molecular markers and additional Medora populations from Italy are required. Other interesting records are: Vertigo angustior, a species protected in the European Union by the Annex II of the Council Directive 92/43/EEC of May 2 1th 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora known as “Habitats Directive”, that includes “animal and plant species of community interest whose conser- vation requires the designation of special areas of conservation (SPA)” and listed as “Vulnerable” at the European level and Platyla talentii, an endemic species of Southern Apennine, recently described by Bodon & Cianfanelli (2008), classified as “Near Threatned” by Cuttelod et al. (2011) and by I.U.C.N. (2014). Five allochthonous species were surveyed for the first time in the study area: three land snails (Lucilla scintilla, L. singleyana and Paralaoma servilis ) and two freshwater snails ( Potamopyrgus antipodarum and Ferris siafragilis). L. scintilla and L. singleyana are native in North America; they were probably introduced into Europe in the second half of the 20th century (Horsak et al., 2009). L. singleyana, P. servilis and F.fragilis are the second records for the Campania Region, the first is Bodon et al. (2004) sub Flelicodiscus singleyanus (Pilsbry, 1890), Bodon et al. (2004) sub P. caputspinulae (Reeve, 1852) and D' Antonio & Bravi (1990) sub F. wautieri (Mirolli, 1960). In the past, three endemic taxa had been de- scribed as new for the Alburni area: Helix ( Iberus ) wullei first described by Kobelt (1903a: 14-15, taw. 1766-1768) from “Monte Alburno circa vicum Postiglione prov. Salernitanae” and later as Iberus wullei (Kobelt, 1903b: pag. 4-5, fig. without num- ber); Xerophila ( Xerolauta ) peninsularis forma “ alburnF described by Kobelt (1907: pp. 59-60, Tafel 357 Fig. 2221) from “Monte Postiglione, des alten Albumus” and Siciliaria ernae described by Fauer (1978: 265, abb. 1) from “Passo Sentinella im SO der Monti Abumi” [municipality of Corleto Monforte], and “6 km West of San Rufo”. Today X. peninsularis is considered a junior synonym of Cernuella virgata (Da Costa, 1778) but the taxo- nomic status of Iberus (= Marmorana ) wullei and of S. ernae need to be confirmed. The Demoulins’ Whorl Snail, listed in the Standard Data Form of the SCI of “Monti Alburni” is not confirmed by our field surveys. A Red List of Threatened Species is also pro- posed and the species were classified with the code of I.U.C.N. (Version 2014.3). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was funded with the support of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park. Authors wish to thank: the National Park Authority of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni for collaboration as well as advising on technical and administrative aspects. In particular: Amilcare Troiano (President), Corrado Matera (Vice-President) and Angelo De Vita (Director). A special thank goes to Pasquale and Pietro Cappelli (Ottati, Salerno) for the trekking guide. We want to thank: Mario Cuomo, Sergio Duraccio, Gianni D’Anna, Franco Izzillo, and Massimo Cretella (Naples) and Aless- andro Hallgass (Rome) for the unpublished data given; Antonio Pietro Ariani for the malacological collection consultation of the Zoological Museum of Naples; Monica Leonardi (Conservator) for the malacological collection consultation of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano, Maria Tavano (Conservator) and Giacomo Doria (Director) for the malacological collection consultation of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova “Giacomo Doria”. 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Agassiz, 1 840 (Echinoidea Clypeasteroida) morphotypes in the Western-Proto-Mediter- ranean Sea Paolo Stara 1 *, Federico Marini 2 , Giuseppe Carone 3 & Enrico Borghi 4 'Centro Studi di Storia Naturale del Mediterraneo, Museo di Storia Naturale Aquilegia, Via Italia 63, Pirri-Cagliari and Geomuseo Monte Arci, Masullas, Oristano, Sardegna, Italy; e-mail: paolostara@yahoo.it 2 University of Florence, Earth Sciences Department, Via la Pira 4, 50121 Florence, Italy; e-mail: federico.marini.87@gmail.com 3 Civico Museo Paleontologico di Ricadi, Palazzo Fazzari, Via Strada Provinciale, 89866 Santa Domenica di Ricadi (W), Italy; e-mail: p.carone@libero.it 4 Societa Reggiana di Scienze Naturali, Via Tosti 1, 42124 Reggio Emilia, Italy; e-mail: enrico.borghi20@teletu.it ^Corresponding author ABSTRACT Several species belonging to the genus Amphiope L. Agassiz, 1 840 (Echinoidea Astriclypeidae) from the Mediterranean Oligo-Miocene have been synonymised with A. bioculata (Des Moulins, 1835), the type-species of the genus, based on the interpretation given by Philippe (1998) as a taxon characterized by a large amount of morphological variability. A recent study introduced the characters of the internal test structure and the plating patterns as taxonomic tools in this genus. That paper indicated the occurrence of at least five different species in the examined sample from the Oligo-Miocene of Sardinia, thus pointing to a previous over- estimation of the variability-range of the type-species and to the need of a review of the largely unresolved taxonomy of Amphiope. According to a recent study, Amphiope is considered as a shallow-water echinoid, inhabiting sandy bottoms with high hydrodynamic energy; so it represents a coastline marker, useful for the study of the paleo-geographic changes occurred in the Proto-Western-Mediterranean during the Miocene. The diffusion and speciation of Amphiope were highly influenced by those changes. In particular, the speciation rate of this genus was likely favored by the occurrence of isolated populations created when islands (e.g.: Baleares, Calabria, Corse, Kabylies, Sardinia) separate from the mainland, above all in the we- stern part of that Basin, because of the opening of the Balearic Basin during the Late Oligo- cene-Early Miocene and of the Tyrrhenian Sea during the Burdigalian-Tortonian (references in this work). Two main morphotypes of Amphiope sensu Stara & Sanciu (2014), developed in the Western Mediterranean from the late Oligocene to the late Miocene. They are herein called the “ bioculata ” group, characterized by roundish to broad elliptical lunules with major diameter/minor diameter ratio (SI) < 1.59, and the "nuragica" group, with more or less narrow lunules and SI > 1.6. According to this authors, most Miocene forms with narrow elliptical lunules would derive from A. nuragica (Comaschi Caria, 1955), late Oligocene-early Miocene of Sardinia, the most archaic form so far known of this genus. The forms belonging to the “ bioculata ” group likely derived from a different common ancestor bearing round to broad ovoidal lunules. “A. bioculata ” described by Cottreau (1914), from the Burdigalian (Philippe, 1998) of Saint Cristol (Nissan, Herault, France), is so far the most ancient known form belong- ing to this group. This work proposes a possible speciation sequence of the “ nuragica ” group. KEY WORDS Amphiope ; Western-Proto-Mediterranean Sea; Paleogeography. Received 12.07.2014; accepted 09.11.2014; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6th- 1 8th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) 394 Paolo Stara et alii INTRODUCTION Paleogeography and paleoecology Amphiope L. Agassiz, 1840 (Echinoidea Ast- riclypeidae) is considered as a shallow- water echin- oid, typical of sandy settings characterized by high hydrodynamic energy (Stara et al., 2012). According to Stara & Rizzo (2013, 2014) and Stara & Sanciu (2014) it represents also a valid coastline marker. On the basis of the fossil record and the avail- able paleoecological data it is herein hypothesized that the diffusion of Amphiope was highly influ- enced by the paleogeographic (Doglioni et al., 1998; Rosenbaum et al., 2002; Carminati et al., 2012, Stara & Rizzo, 2014) and paleoecological (Popescu, 2009) changes occurred in the Western Proto-Mediterranean during the Miocene. In partic- ular the opening of the Balearic and Ligurian Basins during the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene and of the Tyrrhenian Sea during the Burdigalian- Messinian (Doglioni et al., 1998; Rosembaum et al., 2002; Carminati et al., 2012) originated islands (e.g.: Baleares, Calabria, Corse, Kabylies, Sardinia) separated by deep water, thus leading to the occur- rence of isolated populations and favoring speci- ation within this Astriclypeid genus. The orogenetic trend in the Mediterranean area mainly derived from the differential movement between the Adria microplate, belonging to the African plate, and the European one. The geodynamic and paleogeographic evolution of the Western Mediterranean may be divided into two distinct phases: the first occurred during the Chattian-Burdigalian, the second started in the Burdigalian and it is still active today. First phase - The migration of the Sardinia- Corsica microplate and the Calabrian block, with respect to the more stable European plate, likely began 25-23 My ago, with a general translation towards SE. This drift was accompanied by a 45° counterclockwise rotation of the Sardinia-Corsica microplate between 20.5 and 15 Ma, with a broad oceanic domain in the Li guro- Provencal basin (up to 400 km in te southern part) between 20.5 and 18 Ma (Gattacceca et al., 2007). These evidences firstly improved the presence of a connection between the Liguro-Pro venial Basin and the Valencia trough before 20.5 Ma, then the connection between the Alboran and the Algerian basins. Based on the available paleontological data it is here hypothes- ized that the transcurrent belt located to the north of the Sardinia-Corsica microplate and the Calabrian block led to the formation of a neritic sea, occasionally connecting for short periods the Ligurian-Provencal Sea to the Po Basin. Second phase - Further translation towards SE, with a rotation of about 15° of the Calabrian block (Gueguen, 1995), led to the opening of the Tyrrhe- nian Basin, in the Late Miocene. As a result of these changes the Mediterranean began to take on an appearance more similar to the current one. Doglioni et al. (1998) has affirmed that the Apen- nine orogenetic front kept on migrating towards E leading to the emersion of the Apennine Chain, thus separating the Tyrrhenian Sea from the Adriatic after the Burdigalian. On the other hand, based on the opinion by Rosembaum et al. (2002) and on the available macro-paleontological data (Stara & Rizzo, 2013; 2014), it seems likely that the connec- tion between the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic basins had been realized in the Plio-Pleistocene when the Calabrian block reached the Apennine Arc, with the exception of the Ligurian Channel (the Val Bormida Channel of Stara & Rizzo, 2013). The crustal thinning of the back-arc areas located W to the Sardinia-Corsica microplate led to extensive flows of basaltic lava (indicated by magnetic field anom- alies) in the Balearic and the Tyrrhenian basins; both of them were deep water seas with a maximum depth of 3000 and 3700 m, respectively. Kotsakis et al. (2004) prospected the occurrence of a Sardinia-Tuscany bio-paleoprovince during the Serravallian, on the basis of the close similarity of the vertebrate fauna present in these areas. This would imply the existence of landmass bridges or shallow water basins separating lands, important factors conditioning the diffusion of Amphiope between the two sides of the Tyrrhenian Basin. MATERIAL AND METHODS The studied material consists of 78 Amphiope specimens, preserved as whole coronas deprived of the spines, from 5 Oligo-Miocene localities of Western-Mediterranean Basin. 44 A. lovisatoi Cotteau, 1895 (inventory code: (PL1301-03, PL1317, PL1413, PL1418- 20, PE1422-24, PL1427, PL1429, PL1567-70, PL1572-80, PL1583, PL1585- Distribution of two Amphiope (Echinoidea Clypea steroid a) morphotypes in the Western-Proto-Mediterranean Sea 395 87, PL1692-99, PL1700-07, PL1709-14, PL1715- 18, PL 1720- 23, PL 1726) from Chiaramonti (Sassari province); 1 Amphiope sp. from Capo Frasca (Medio Campidano Province); 19 A. nur- agica from Cuccuru Tuvullao (Cagliari Province) MAC (PL1590-91, PL1678-80, PL1684, PL1727, PL 1820, PL 1829; PL 1835-44); 1 A. montezemoloi Lovisato 1901 from Bonnanaro, Sassari; 5 Am- phiope sp. from Calabria (Vibo Valentia Province, Italy), no code; 2 from Alicante (unknown locality); 1 from Torrent, Valencia Province (Spain) are housed at the Museo di Storia Naturale “Aquilegia” (MAC code) of Cagliari; the Holotype of A. nur- agica, at the University of Cagliari Sardinia (Italy), UNICA code, inventory 9CC.8- 10504. 10 Am- phiope specimens from Calabria (Vibo Valentia Province, Italy) number 104/E 101-110, are housed at the Civico Museo Paleontologico di Ricadi (Vibo Valentia province), Calabria, Italy. 3 specimens from Torrent, Valencia Province (Spain) were stud- ied in private collections. One sintype of A. bioculata from Sure-Pres-Bollene today “Suze-la- Rousse” near “Bollene”, France, housed at the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle of Bordeaux (code MFINB), France, inventory number MFINBx 2014.6.317. The plate pattern of the sintype of A. bioculata , variety A of Des Moulins (1835), is not visible, but the two lunules are clearly rounded, as described by the author (“foraminibus subrotundis Morphological abbreviations (Fig. 1) TL = test length; TW = test width; TH = test height; PL = petalodium length; LI = lunule length; L2 = lunule width. The measure of TL is reported in mm; other data in % TL; SI= lunule shape index (L2/L1);WI= lunule width index (Ll+L2)/2. Biometric analyses were carried out and data analyzed using the software PAST-version 3.2 (2014) (Hammer, 2014), to help the interpretation of the samples collected from Sardinia and Calabria. Systematic palaeontology follows Kroh & Smith (2010). TWO MAIN AMPHIOPE MORPHOTYPES The genus Amphiope sensu Stara & Sanciu (2014) developed from the end of the Oligocene to the late Tortonian- early Messinian in the Proto- Westem-Mediterranean Sea. A. nuragica (Comaschi Caria, 1955), from the Oligo-Miocene of Sardinia, is the more ancient species so far known belonging to this genus (Stara & Borghi, 2014), though the genus Amphiope looked like already well differentiated in the Aquitanian. Based on the phylogenetic hypothesis proposed by Stara & Borghi (2014) most forms with narrow transversely elongate lunules derived from A. nur- agica , whereas those with sub-rounded to broad elliptical lunules as A. bioculata (including “A. TW Figure 1. Set of morphometric measurements used in this work. 396 Paolo Stara et alii bioculatcT from the Aquitanian of Carry, France, as inteipreted by Cottreau, 1914 and Philippe, 1998) originated from a different common ancestor. Two main morphotypes of the genus Amphiope are here proposed: the “ nuragica ” group (PL 1 Figs. 3-4), characterized by narrow transversely elongate lunules with SI > 1.6, and the “ bioculata ” group (PL 1 Figs. 1-2), with roundish to broad ovoid lunules and SKI .59. Both these groups are well represented in the study area, however in this paper we’ll go deep into the “ nuragica ” forms only, since clear structural data are so far available only for this group. DISTRIBUTION OF THE TWO MAIN MORPHOTYPES IN THE WESTERN ME- DITERRANEAN Amphiope has been recorded from more than 30 localities both in Sardinia (Comaschi Caria, 1955, 1972; Stara et al, 2012) and in the Rhone Basin (France) (Cottreau, 1914; Philippe, 1998). This ech- inoid has been cited in Italy also in Tuscany (Gian- nini, 1957; present paper), Campania (Barbera & Tavernier, 1989), Calabria (Cottreau, 1914; Carone & Domning, 2007), Sicily (Garilli et al., 2010). In Spain Amphiope was recorded in Catalogna (Lam- bert, 1928), Mallorca (Llompart, 1983), Valencia (personal communication of Bajo Campos, July 2012) and Alicante (present paper). Amphiope has also been recorded from Algeria (Pomel, 1887-88 and Cotteau et al., 1891) and Corse (Cotteau, 1877). The finding localities corresponding to these records are reported in Table 1 and figure 2, with the attribution to the “ nuragica' ’ or to the “biocu- lata” group. The asterisc marks the species not directly examined by the authors. The syntype of A. bioculata from the Bollene area has the SI = 1; the sample of A. bioculata described by Cottreau (1914) has a mean value of PL = 53 and SI ranges from 0.95 to 1.47, with a mean of 1.22. The studied sample of A. nuragica from Sardinia has a similar mean value of PL (51), however SI ranges from 2 to 3 with a much higher mean value (2.4) than that of A. bioculata sensu Cottreau (1914). Based on its small sized petalodium (PL = 40- 47, with a mean value of 43.3) the sample from the Tortonian of Calabria clearly differs from all the others belonging to the “ nuragica ” group (Fig. 3), with the exception of the few specimens from the Tortonian of Valencia (mean PL = 44). In the sample from Calabria SI ranges from 2.4 to 4.3, with a mean value of 3. A specimen from Sicily shows the lowest value for the “ nuragica ” group (SI = 1.6), whereas a specimen of A. hollandei Cotteau, 1877(the holo- type) from Corse has the highest value (SI = 6.5). Plate 1. Main Amphiope morphotypes. Figure 1-2, “ bioculata ” group; Figure 1 : A. bioculata syntype MHNBx 2014.6.317; Figure 2: A. montezemoloi MAC.PL1676. Figure 3-4, “ nuragica ” group; Figure 3: A. nuragica MAC.PL. 1680; Figure 4. Amphiope sp. from Calabria, MAC.PL 1672. Distribution of two Amphiope (Echinoidea Clypea steroid a) morphotypes in the Western-Proto-Mediterranean Sea 397 TYPE PL % TL LI % TL L2 % TL WI SI Amphiope bioculata , sintype MHNB20I4.6 — 10 10 10 1 A cf. bioculata (in Cottreau. 1914)* 53 10.2 (9-12.6) 1.22 (0.95-1.47) A montezemoloi, San Giorgio - 16.8 16 16.4 0.95 A w/rogie^holotype 51 13.5 (11.5-15) 2.4 (2-3) A. sp., Sicilia 56 9 15 12 1.6 A deydieri, France* ? 47 5.5 15.5 10.5 2.8 A. sp. 1, Calabria 44 5 13 9 2.6 41 5.5 14 9.7 2.5 45 5.5 18 11.7 3.3 44 6 17 11.5 2.8 47 5 16 11.5 3.2 A sp. 2, Calabria 44 4 14.5 9.2 3.6 43 4.5 14 9.2 3.1 40 5 12 8.5 2.4 42 3.5 15 9.2 4.3 A sp. 1, Valencia 42 5 13 9 2.6 44 4.5 11 7.7 2.4 A depressa, Algeria* 44 5 10 7.5 2 A sp., Capo Frasca 54 7.5 16 11.7 2.1 A. sp. 2, Valencia 55 5 14 9.5 2.8 A. sp., Alicante 52 4 17 10.5 4.5 A hollandei , Corsica* 54 3 20 11.5 6.6 A sarasini , France* 50 6 13 9.5 2.1 A. palpebrata, Algeria* 52 6.5 14 10.2 2.1 Table 1. Data PL, LI, L2, WI and SI of species included in the “ nuragica " group, present in the area under study. For comparison, in the first three rows are reported the data of syntype of A. bioculata and two other forms of the group. 398 Paolo Stara et alii Figure 2. Distribution of two main moiphotypes in the Western Mediterranean basin. Red dot = “ bioculata ” group; blue dot = “ nuragica ” group; square dot = insufficient data. However the last two are border-line cases rep- resented by single specimens; additionally the spe- cimen from Corse is poorly preserved (fide Cottreau, 1914) and the drawing may be not reliable. The shape index of lunules is not discriminant between the forms of the “ nuragiccT group, how- ever comparison based on the values of LI and L2 is more significant. In the large sample from Sardinia (Stara & Borghi, 2014) the range of LI is 6-16.7 (6-11.2 in A. nuragica), that of L2 is 11-23.5 (14.1-23.5 in A. nuragica). The samples from Calabria and Valencia show much lower values of the lunule length (LI ranges from 3.5 to a maxi- mum of 6), L2 ranges from 11 to 18. Based on these observations the sample from Calabria is characterized by: 1 . the smallest petalodium so far known for the genus Amphiope; only some specimens from Valen- cia and A. depressa Pomel, 1887, from Algeria show similar values of PL (see Fig. 3) 2. lower values of L2, WI and above all LI when compared to the species described from Sardinia by Stara & Borghi (2014): Amphiope lovisatoi and A. nuragica (Fig. 4). A larger sample is needed to confirm the same results also for the examined specimens from Valencia. CONCLUSIONS This preliminary study indicates clear morpho- logical differences within the “ nuragica ” group, with respect to the size of the petalodium (PL) and of the lunules. In particular the samples from the late Miocene of Calabria (Southern Italy) and Valencia (Spain) show much smaller petalodium and smaller lunules when compared to the other known species belonging to this group. It is presumable that in some nearshore areas of the Mediterranean (e.g. along the coasts of Calabria, Balearic, Kabilyes, Sardinia, Corsica), separated by deep water, different species of Amphiope de- veloped independently, adapting to the environ- mental changes occurred through the Miocene, mainly climate, due also to the latitudinal migration of lands, and ecology. On the other hand, during the Miocene Amphiope showed also structural modifications Distribution of two Amphiope (Echinoidea Clypea steroid a) morphotypes in the Western-Proto-Mediterranean Sea 399 Figure 3. Petalodium comparison data on some species be- longing to the “ nuragiccT group (PL in% TL). A = A. lovi- satoi; B = A. nuragica; C = Amphiope sp. Calabria. l? s 5- 1 M- ii.&- iaa- 7 . 5 ' M- 2 . 5 - Figure 4. Size of lunules (WI) comparison on some species belonging to the “ nuragica ” group. A = A. lovisatov, B = A. nuragica ; C = Amphiope sp. Calabria. common to almost all of the Mediterranean forms, such as the decreasing number of plates and a progressive lightening of the test- structure (Stara & Borghi, 2014; Stara & Sanciu, 2014). Future studies focusing on paleoecology will be probably able to explain these dynamics and in particular why some populations underwent signi- ficant morphological modifications (e.g. the de- creasing in the petalodium size seen in the samples from Calabria and Valencia). The results of this study indicate the occurrence of different species in the “ nuragica ” group, that is Amphiope characterized by narrow and transversely elongate lunules. All these forms likely derived from a common ancestor living in the Archipelago formed during the Oligocene-Miocene boundary between the Provencal and the Sardinian-Corsica coasts. A similar differentiation is expected to be also in the “ bioculata ” group and also this argument will be the object of future studies. AKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank Ildefonso Bajo Campos (Museo de Alcala de Guadaira, Seccion de Paleontologia, Sevilla, Spain), Fabio Ciappelli (Calenzano) and Piero Frediani (Castelfiorentino, Firenze), for in- formation on specimens from Tortonian of Valencia (Spain) and Tuscany respectively; Paolo Cutuli and the other people associated to the Gruppo Paleon- tologico Tropeano (Vibo Valentia, Calabria), for information about the A mph /opc-beari ng localities in the Vibo Valentia Province. We warmly thank Roberto Rizzo (Parco Geominerario, Storico e Ambientale della Sardegna) for critical reading of the geologic-structural evolution of the Western Mediterranean. 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Studies on some astriclypeids (Echinoidea, Clypeasteroida), pp. 225-358. Biod- iversity Journal, 5: 233-244. Stara P. & Sanciu L., 2014. Analysis of some astriclyp- eids echinoids (Echinoidea, Clypeasteroida). In: Paolo Stara (Ed.). Studies on some astriclypeids (Echinoidea, Clypeasteroida), pp. 225-358. Biod- iversity Journal, 5: 291-358. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 401-411 The genus Erctella Monterosato, 1 894: new molecular evid- ence (Pulmonata Stylommatophora Helicidae) Maria Stella Colomba 1 *, Armando Gregorini 1 , Fabio Liberto 2 , Agatino Reitano 3 , Salvatore Giglio 4 & Ignazio Sparacio 5 'Universita di Urbino, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomolecolari (DiSB), via Maggetti 22, loc. Sasso, 61029 Urbino, Pesaro-Urbino, Italy; e-mail: mariastella.colomba@uniurb.it, armando.gregorini@uniurb.it 2 Strada Provinciale Cefalu-Gibilmanna n° 93, 90015 Cefalu, Palermo, Italy; email: fabioliberto@yahoo.it 3 Via Gravina 77, 95030 Tremestieri Etneo, Catania, Italy; email: tinohawk@yahoo.it 4 Contrada Settefrati, 90015 Cefalu, Palermo, Italy; email: hallucigenia@tiscali.it 5 Via E. Notarbartolo 54 int. 13, 90145 Palermo, Italy; email: isparacio@inwind.it ’Corresponding author, email: mariasteha.colomba@uniurb.it ABSTRACT In this paper we report on new molecular data (COI sequences) of different and represent- ative populations of Erctella mazzullii (De Cristofori et Jan, 1832), E. cephalaeditana Gian- nuzzi-Savelli, Oliva et Sparacio, 2012 and E. insolida (Monterosato, 1892) (Pulmonata, Stylommatophora, Helicidae). Present results are compared with those from recent literature and the current knowledge on phylogenetic relationships among Helicidae pulmonate gastropods is reviewed. Obtained results suggest that: i) Cornu Born, 1778 and Cantareus Risso, 1826 are separate and well distinct from Helix Linnaeus, 1758; ii) Erctella Monterosato, 1894 is a valid and independent genus rather than a subgenus of Cornu; iii) Cornu aspersion (O.F. Muller, 1774) is a group of species (i.e. " aspersum" group) whose taxonomic status needs to be defin further studies; iv) Cornu , Cantareus and Erctella might belong to the same tribe that, still, remains to be defined. KEY WORDS Erctella; Helicidae; mitochondrial markers; phylogenetic reconstruction. Received 11.02.2015; accepted 18.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress “Speciation and Taxonomy”, May 1 6th- 1 8th 2014, Cefalu-Castelbuono (Italy) INTRODUCTION Colomba et al. (2011) reported on a multidiscip- linary study based on genital morphology, DNA analysis, distribution, ecology and fossil records of Cornu mazzullii (De Cristofori et Jan, 1832), a species endemic to North-Western Sicily. Obtained results supported the hypothesis that C mazzul- lii should be attributed to the genus Erctella Monterosato, 1894 and that this genus was probably structured in three discrete clades (i.e., the mazzullii group) recognized as species including: (i) the populations living in Monte Pellegrino (Palermo) and nearby mountains, E. mazzullii s. str., (ii) the endemic population of Cefalu, La Rocca, E. ceph- alaeditana Giannuzzi-Savelli, Oliva et Sparacio, 2012, and (iii) the populations living in the mountains of Trapani surroundings, E. insolida (Monterosato, 1892). Based on the phylogenetic reconstruction obtained by the multigenic analysis of nuclear (ITS2) and mitochondrial (16S rDNA, 12S rDNA) molecular markers, Colomba et al. (2011) strongly suggested that the genus Erctella should be kept distinct from the closely related genera Cornu Born, 1778 and Cantareus Risso, 1826. In the 402 M.S. COLOMBA ET ALII same paper, this hypothesis was also corroborated by the analysis of several 16S rDNA partial sequences downloaded from GenBank for other genera representatives of Western Palaearctic Helicidae taxa; noteworthy, the phylogenetic tree topology clearly showed Cornu and Cantareus distinct from Helix Linnaeus, 1758 (see Colomba et al., 20 11, fig. 42). Cornu Bom, 1778 (type species: Cornu copiae Bom, 1778) was reintroduced as distinct genus by Walden (1976) with Cryptomphalus De Charpen- tier, 1837 (type species: Cryptomphalus aspersum O.F. Muller, 1774) as junior synonim; it was some- times considered as subgenus of Helix Linnaeus, 1758 (type species: Helix pomatia Linnaeus, 1758) and sometimes as a distinct genus. The description of Cornu copiae was based on a teratological specimen of 'Helix” aspersa; due to different interpretations of the Article 1.3.2 of the Code, a request for conservation of the name Cornu is still pending a mling of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Cantareus Risso, 1826 (type species: Cantareus apertus Born, 1778) was sometimes considered as subgenus of Helix and sometimes as a distinct genus. Schileyko (1978) was the first one who de- scribed the internal structure of male sexual organs of "Helix" aspersa characterized by a penial papilla and a prominent semicircular fold in the distal part of the penis (see also Nordsieck, 2013). Because of these anatomical differences, the Author attributed this species to the genus Cryptomphalus. Giusti et al. (1995) showed a close similarity between genitalia of "Helix" aperta and "Helix" aspersa and, therefore, attributed these two species to the same genus, Cantareus , morpholo- gically well distinct from Helix. Moreover, they reported that Helix has a real penial papilla inside the penis and, distally, an accessory penial papilla, whereas Cantareus shows a system of a real penial papilla, a false penial papilla and, distally, an "annular pad". Neubert & Bank (2006) mainly confirmed these morphological differences and concluded in con- sidering Cornu and Cantareus as related but distinct genera. One year later, similar observations were reported by Alonso & Ibanez (2007). At the same time, findings of scientific studies based on molecular data were in line with the taxo- nomic frame showing Helix distinct from Canta- reus and Cornu , the latter two considered the same genus (Manganelli et al., 2005; Koene & Schu- lenburg, 2005; Wade et al., 2006, 2007). Nevertheless, despite all these anatomical and molecular evidence, recently Welter-Schultes et al. (2011) and Welter-Schultes & Audibert (2012) con- sidered Cornu and Cantareus to belong to the genus Helix. Bank (2012) argued that such a systematic position is wrong, and, above all, it does not take into account a number of studies (cited above) suggesting a taxonomic choice closer to the real af- finities among these taxa. Welter-Schultes et al. (2012), however, reaffirmed their beliefs and, besides, Welter-Schultes (2012) reported Erctella as synonym of Helix. Nordsieck (2013), reviewing the papers, pub- lished in the last decades, dealing with anatomical and molecular data, concluded, in summary, that: “ According to genital morphology and DNA ana- lysis, ‘‘Helix “ aspersa and relatives are not more related to Helix than Eobania and other genera of the Helicinae [. . .] These species must therefore be generically separated from Helix. The shell and the genital differences, especially those of the penis (Giusti et al. 1995, Neubert & Bank 2006, Colomba et al. 2011), are sufficient for the generic separation of Cantareus and Cornu (or Cryptom- phalus, if the name Cornu is not valid because of Art. 1.3.2 ICZN, cf. Giusti et al. 1995: 491). Erctella is regarded as a subgenus of Comu instead of a genus, because it is more closely related to Comu than to Cantareus”. More recently, detailed molecular genetics studies (Korabek et al., 2014; 2015; Razkin et al., 2015) confirmed Cornu and Cantareus as two distinct genera forming a group with no sign of a close relationship with Helix. In addition, Erctella DNA sequences, when included in such analysis (see Korabek et al., 2015), confirmed this item, in line with Colomba et al. (2011). At present there seems to be broad agreement in considering Cornu and Cantareus distinct genera, while on the position of Erctella opinions are still diverging. In order to be able to further test the “genus hypothesis” ( Erctella as a distinct genus, Colomba et al., 2011) versus the “subgenus hypo- thesis” ( Erctella as a Cornu subgenus, Nordsieck, 2013), we performed an additional molecular ana- lysis to characterize and define even better, from a The genus Erctella Monterosato, 1 894: new molecular evidence (Pulmonata Stylommatophora Helicidae) 403 molecular standpoint, the identity and reliability of Erctella. In particular, phylogenetic relationships among taxa under study were analysed by comparing par- tial sequences of the gene encoding for the cyto- chrome oxidase subunit I (COI) - which is one of the most commonly used mitochondrial markers in molecular evolution and molecular phylogeny. Besides, to provide a little contribute in sheding some more light on Helicidae systematics, the ana- lysis was extended to hundreds of specimens of the family Helicidae whose COI sequences were down- loaded from GenBank database. A similar analysis was carried out including 16S rDNA partial sequences of the same taxa. Molecular analyses have been performed either with single (16S or COI) or combined (16S+COI) molecular datasets. MATERIAL AND METHODS Specimens and Collection sites For each population, 2-5 Sicilian Erctella spe- cimens were analysed. Please note that each loc- ality and/or collection site is named in the original language (Italian). Collected samples were iden- tified and [labelled] as follows: Erctella insolida (from Trapani province: Custonaci, Trapani [CU], M.te Cofano, Trapani [COF]; San Vito lo Capo: cala Mancina, Trapani [SV]); Erctella mazzullii (from W-Palermo surroundings: M.te Pellegrino [MP]; Sferracavallo, Palermo [CMS]; Carini: M.te Columbrina, Palermo [COL]; Cinisi: M.te Pecoraro, Palermo [PEC]); Erctella cephalaed- itana from Cefalu: la Rocca, Palermo [CM]; Cornu aspersum (= H. aspersa ) [CA] from Ce- falu, Palermo, Sicily; and Cantareus apertus [CAP] from Cefalu, Palermo, Sicily and Assoro, Enna, Sicily. DNA extraction, amplification and sequencing Samples were stored separately at -20 °C in test tubes. Of each individual, a piece of foot tissue was used for total DNA extraction (by Wizard Genomic DNA Purification Kit, Promega). COI fragments (581-663 bp) were amplified using LCO_1490 (5’- GGT C AACAAAT C ATAA AG ATATT GG-3 ’ ) andHCO_ 2198 (5 ’-TAAACTTCAGGGTGACCAAAATCAG ’) (Folmer et al., 1994). PCR cycles were as follows: 95 °C for 5 min; 95 °C for 1 min, 42°C for 1 min, 72°C for 1 min (35 cycles); 72°C for 5 min. To remove primers and unincorporated nucleotides, amplified products were purified with the Wizard SV gel and PCR Clean-up kit (Promega). Sequen- cing of purified PCR products was carried out using automated DNA sequencers at Eurofins MWG Operon (Germany). All COI sequences generated in this study were uploaded in GenBank (accession numbers: KR921883-KR921914). Phylogenetic analyses The analysis was conducted on two partial gene sequences: COI and 16S rDNA, integrating our data with those obtained from GenBank database. In particular, in addition to the sequences obtained from specimens tested directly in this study (KR921883-KR921914), to further expand the ana- lysis and refine its resolving power, we included 16S rDNA sequences of Erctella mazzullii , E. insol- ida, E. cephalaeditana. Cornu aspersum and Can- tareus apertus previously generated by our research group (GQ402393-GQ402396, GQ402398- GQ402402, GQ402403-GQ402405, GQ402407- GQ402409, GQ402410-GQ402411, GQ402412- GQ402414, GQ4024 1 7-GQ4024 1 9, GQ402420- GQ402422, GQ402387-GQ402389, GQ402390- GQ402392, see Colomba et al., 2011), joined to both COI and 16S rDNA sequences downloaded from GenBank of the following taxa: Eobania vermiculata (O.F. Muller, 1774) (KJ458509, KJ458510, KJ458511, JF277395, JF277393, JF277391), Theba geminata Mousson, 1857 (KJ458559, HM034468), T. subdentata (Ferussac, 1821) (KJ458562, HM034496), T. pisana (O.F. Muller, 1774) (KJ458561, JX911311), T. an- dalusica Gittenberger et Ripken, 1987 (KJ458558, KF582631), Murella muralis (O.F. Muller, 1774) (GU391399, JX827154), Helix lucorum Linnaeus, 1758 (AF 126 144, GU784803), Helix pomatia Lin- naeus, 1758 (AF208297, JX91 1304), Helix secern- enda Rossmassler 1847 (KP072386, KP072387, KP072388, KP072086, KP072087, KP072088), Helix vladika Kobelt, 1898 (KP072303, KF823104), Helix melanostoma Drapamaud 1801 (KJ458524, KP072 1 07), Iberus gualtierianus (Lin- naeus, 1758) (AY928605,AY928606, DQ822123, DQ822165, DQ822166, AY546285), Hemicycla 404 M.S. COLOMBA ET ALII bidentalis (Lamarck, 1822) (KJ45 8528, HM 147 180), Pseudotachea splendida (Draparnaud, 1801) (KJ458552, AY546292), Levantina caesareana (Mousson, 1854) (KP072332, KP072181) Otala lactea (O.F. Muller, 1774) (AY937264, AY937263), O. punctata (O.F. Muller, 1774) (JF717823, JF717824, KJ458545, JF717805, JF717806, JF717807), Helix aspersa (AF126139, AF126135, AF 126 134, AF126140, AF126136, JN701926, JN701927, GU598217, AY546283, HQ203051, HQ203052, JX911287), Cantareus apertus (KJ458491, JX911286). Finally, Limax maximus Linnaeus, 1758 (Family Limacidae) (KF894386), L. cinereoniger Wolf, 1803 (KF894380), Limacus flavus (Linnaeus, 1758) (FJ896815), Muticaria syracusana (Philippi, 1836) (Family Clausiliidae) (HQ696868, AY425597) and M. neuteboomi Beckmann, 1990 (FIQ696866, HQ696867) were employed as outgroups. All sequences were visualized with BioEdit Sequence Alignment Editor 7 (Hall, 1999), aligned with the ClustalW option included in this software and refined by eye. As far as concerns single (COI or 16S rDNA) molecular data sets, phylogenetic analyses were conducted in MEGA 5 (Tamura et al., 2011) by Maximum Likelihood algorithm. Substi- tution models, selected according to the “Find Best DNA model” option included in the software, were: HKY+G (COI) and GTR+G (16S rDNA); support for the intemodes was assessed by bootstrap percentages (BP) (1000 replicates). For the com- bined (COI+16S rDNA) datasets, phylogenetic ana- lyses were conducted in BEAST 1.6.1 (Drummond & Rambaut, 2007) using the *BEAST implement- ation (Heled & Drummond, 2010). A series of initial runs were performed to optimize priors and runtime parameter choice to obtain effective sampling sizes (ESS) above 500 for all estimated parameters. The best-fit evolution models of nucleotide substitution were: HKY+G (COI) and GTR+G (16S rDNA) with empirical base com- position; the Yule Process tree prior for mitochon- drial data with piecewise linear population size model was applied with a UPGMA-generated tree as starting point. Trees from all mns were combined to produce an ultrametric consensus tree using TreeAnnotator 1.6.1. The first 10 3 trees were dis- carded as bumin. Support for nodes was expressed as posterior probabilities. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION COI and 16S rDNA consensus trees and the multi-genic (COI+16S rDNA) tree included 69 molecular sequences, each. Obtained results al- lowed to make a few observations of some interest. In particular, COI consensus tree (Fig. 1), showed three separate clusters for (A) Erctella (discussed in detail below), (B) Cantareus apertus and (C) Cornu aspersum clearly distinct. Similarly, (D) Eobania vermiculata , (E) Levantina caesareana, (F) Helix spp. (including several species), (G) Otala spp. (O. punctata and O. lactea), (H) Murella muralis, (I) Hemicycla bidentalis, Pseudotachea splendida, Iberus gualtierianus and (L) Theba spp. ( T. geminata, T. subdentata, T. pisana, T. andalusica ) are separated. With regard to Erctella, the three taxa are clearly distinct and separated as E. insolida (SV1-SV3, CU4-CU5, COF2-COF4, from Trapani province), E. mazzullii (CMS1-CMS5, COL1-COL3, PEC1-PEC3, MP1- MP3, comprising specimens sampled on M.te Pellegrino and the nearby mountains of sur- roundings of Palermo), and E. cephalaeditana (CM1-CM4, from Cefalu, La Rocca). The 16S rDNA consensus tree topology (Fig. 2) is similar to that shown in figure 1 . In fact, also in this case, Erctella is clearly distinct and well struc- tured in three taxa, Erctella insolida , E. cephalaed- itana and E. mazzullii. Once again, it is confirmed a distinction between the (closely related) genera Erctella, Cornu and Cantareus ; based on 16S rDNA sequences analysis, Erctella appears closer to Cornu, while in the COI tree Cornu is closer to Cantareus. Mean molecular distances among the three taxa of Erctella (assessed by the maximun composite likelihood method), range from nearly 6 to 10% (16S rDNA) and about 4 to 7.5% (COI). These values, despite the issues of using mean molecular distances (see Meier et al., 2008), nevertheless, compared with those reported for other species, including Pulmonata (e.g. Hebert et al., 2003a, 2003b; Steinke et al., 2005; Nekola et al., 2009) can, in our opinion, justify the separation of Erctella populations into three species. Genetic distances between different species within various animal groups, especially inverteb- rates, are variable (see for example Meier et al., 2008 and references therein). This is because they The genus Erctella Monterosato, 1 894: new molecular evidence (Pulmonata Stylommatophora Helicidae) 405 Figure 1. COI consensus tree. The evolutionary history was inferred by using the Maximum Likelihood method based on HKY model. The percentage of replicate trees in which the associated taxa clustered together in the bootstrap test (1000 re- plicates) are shown next to the branches. A discrete Gamma distribution was used to model evolutionary rate differences among sites [5 categories (+G, parameter = 0.6175)]. 406 M.S. COLOMBA ET ALII Figure 2. 1 6S rDNA consensus tree. The evolutionary history was inferred by using the Maximum Likelihood method based on GTR model. The percentage of replicate trees in which the associated taxa clustered together in the bootstrap test (1000 replicates) are shown next to the branches. A discrete Gamma distribution was used to model evolutionary rate differences among sites [5 categories (+G, parameter = 0.7920)]. The genus Erctella Monterosato, 1 894: new molecular evidence (Pulmonata Stylommatophora Helicidae) 407 are function of different parameters among which: different rates of nucleotide substitution, different types of environmental pressure, or different types of mutation which the nucleotide sequences are sub- ject to, which at times (e.g. for retro-mutations) cannot be detected a-posteriori. Moreover, generally speaking, genetic distances per se are not sufficient to discriminate between different species and, for pulmonates, a few cases have been documented where distances turned out to be misleading, neces- sitating to be integrated with additional data (see Davison et al., 2009; Sauer & Hausdorf, 2012). In Erctella , molecular data combined with other significant data such as morphological, biological, ecological and paleontological features allow us to consider it a genus with three different species, endemic to northwestern Sicily (Liberto et al., 2010; Colomba et al., 2011). Concatenated-gene analysis was better resolved than single-gene analysis and thus represents, prob- ably, more accurately present relationships among taxa. It resulted in a tree topology (Fig. 3) which is quite superimposable to that of the ML trees (Figs. 1, 2) and, for the most part, in line with a recent review of the molecular phylogeny of the Western Palaearctic Helicoidea by Razkin et al. (2015). In particular, it is visible the group including Eobania vermiculata , Otala lactea and O. punctata (tribe Otalini, in pink), the group including Iberus gual- tierianus, Pseudotachea splendida and Hemicycla bidentalis (Allognathini, in red), Theba species (Thebini, in yellow), and several species of Helix and Levantina caesareana (Helicini, in lilac). In the concatenated-gene analysis, Erctella and Cornu , considered two distinct genera, are sister groups. <3 0 (* S3, US Muticaria syracusana Muticaria neuteboomi Limacus flavus Eobania vermiculata (n= 26) Otala lactea (n=26) Otala punctata (n=26) Iberus gualtierianus (n=22) Pseudotachea splendida (n=22) Hemicycla bidentalis Theba geminata Theba pisana (n=30) Theba andalusica Theba subdentata Can tareus apertus ( n =2 7) Erctella mazzullii (n=27) Erctella cephalaeditana Erctella insolida Cornu aspersum (n=27) Murella muralis Helix melanostoma (n=27) Helix vladika Helix lucorum Helix pomatia (n=27) Helix secernendo Levantina caesareana Otalini Allognathini Thebini Helicini Figure 3. Phylogenetic annotated tree based on Bayesian inference analysis of the concatenated data set including 16S rRNA and COI sequences. Numbers correspond to BI posterior probabilities (in %). 408 M.S. COLOMBA ET ALII Regarding relationships within the group Cantareus-Erctella-Cornu our data differ from Razkin et al. (2015). In fact, while for Erctella it is not possible to make a comparison because the Authors did not include this taxon in their analysis, on the other hand, in our tree, neither Cornu nor Cantareus can be considered Otalini, rather belong- ing to a distinct cluster (attributable to the “tribe” level) including Erctella. Therefore, although Cornu and Cantareus show a certain degree of affinity particularly with Eo- bania for genitalia architecture (see Giusti et al., 1995) and share with Otalini similar biogeographic, ecological and evolutionary items typical of Western Mediterranean areas where these terrestrial molluscs differentiated (see Colomba et al., 2011), nevertheless, the consideration of Cornu , Cantareus and Erctella as a separate tribe, which still remains to be defined, is suggested. Furthermore, Cornu , Cantareus and Erctella share the same chromosome number (n = 27) (Vitturi et al., 1982; Vitturi et al., 2005) (see Fig. 3), while Eobania and other Otalini examined up to now have n = 26 (Burch, 1965; Thiriot-Quievreux, 2003). Finally, Otalini show in genital organs a relatively little dart sac and well- developed digit-like appendiges, Cornu-Cantareus- Erctella, instead, show a massive dart sac and two groups of digitiform glands with short base and numerous and short digit-like appendiges. On the other hand, the separation between Cornu-Cantareus-Erctella and Helix is supported by: (i) the different geographical distribution of the genera: Cornu and Cantareus are widespread in North Africa and Southern Europe, with Erctella endemic to Northwestern Sicily, while Helix is mainly distributed in Central and Eastern Europe and, to a lesser extent, North Africa; (ii) the dif- ferent morphology of genital organs (Schileylco, 1978; Giusti et al.,1995; Neubert & Bank, 2006, Alonso & Ibanez, 2007) showing in Cornu-Can- tareus-Erctella a different form of dart sac and of digitiform glands (see above); and (iii) molecular data (see Korabek et al., 2015 and quotes therein). Comparing the three phylogenetic trees an inter- esting consideration about Cornu aspersum can be made. In fact, in line with other studies (Guiller et al., 2001; Guiller & Madec, 2010), in our study as well, this taxon seems to be not a single species but rather a species group (ie " aspersum " group) showing a taxonomic situation more complex and heterogeneous than previously hypothesized within its area of origin and diversification (Southern Italy, Sicily and NW Africa). This result is further confirmed by personal unpublished morphological and molecular data of numerous Italian, Maltese and North African C. aspersum populations. Finally, the position of Murella muralis remains to be clarified. In fact, it is not only different in all phylognetic trees but, above all, discordant with what reported in other papers. This issue, which is beyond the aim of the present paper, requires further study and investigation, possibly increasing the number of specimens (joining to sequences down- loaded from the database also sequences obtained from new samples collected directly in the field), increasing the number of genes analyzed and, above all, including in the analysis other taxa represent- atives of subfamilies more closely related to Murel- linae, such as Ariantinae. Overall, present results correspond well to several previous molecular studies carried out by nuclear and mitochondrial markers (Koene & Schulenburg, 2005; Colomba et al., 2011; Korabek et al., 2014; Razkin et al., 2015) and confirm that Erctella species lie always outside the clusters of Cornu and Cantareus. CONCLUSIONS New molecular evidence provided in this study suggested also several comments on Erctella closely related genera. Hence, on this basis, despite the difficulties that the argument implies, some con- clusions can be drawn. The groups comprising Cornu-Cantareus- Erctella on one hand, and Helix on the other hand, appear separate and distinct from each other. In line with most of the papers reporting on anatomical and molecular characteristics observed in these animals, there seems to be no evidence that "aperta", "aspersa" and / or "mazzullii" may belong to the genus Helix. Considering Cornu and Cantareus as Otalini, as assumed by Razkin et al. (2015) is not confirmed in our analysis. However, as mentioned above, the issue certainly needs further study in view of their aforementioned anatomical and biogeographical affinities. The genus Erctella Monterosato, 1 894: new molecular evidence (Pulmonata Stylommatophora Helicidae) 409 We suggest considering Cornu , Cantareus and Erctella as related but distinct genera belonging to independent lineages; as hypothesized, they might be included into a new tribe (between Otalini and Helicini). Cornu aspersum complex is in need of a thor- ough taxonomic revision in its area of origin. Finally, it is appropriate to reiterate that our de- cision to consider Erctella a distinct genus including three different species (Colomba et al., 2011) was not only made on the basis of some, although import- ant, molecular evidence, but also by the analysis of many other data that allowed us to assign to the various Erctella populations morphological, biolo- gical, paleontological and biogeographical peculiar characters, amplified by the particular distribution of the taxon, endemic to Northwestern Sicily. In this regard it is worth remembering that in the charac- terization of a taxon, at different levels, while gathering as many informations as possible (in- cluding morfological, ecological, molecular data, etc ...) is necessary, taxonomic reconstmctions ob- tained with a methodology not always correspond to the ones obtained with another method (see Schileyko, 2013); for Erctella, instead, all (numer- ous) data are consistent with the hypothesis of dif- ferentiating it from other (similar, closely related) genera. So that it seems appropriate to conclude with the words reported by A. Schmidt (1868) who claimed that, in taxonomy : “ Kilnstliche Systeme entstehen durch consequentes Geltendmachen eines einzelnen Princips ” [“the application of a single criterion produces artificial classifications”]. In more contemporary terms, we could say with Poins et al. 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European non-marine mol- luscs, a guide for species identification. Planet Poster Editions, Gottingen, 760 pp. Welter-Schultes F., Altaba C.R. & Audibert C., 2012. Comment on Cornu Born, 1778 (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Pulmonata, HELICIDAE): request for a ruling on the availability of the generic name (Case 3518). Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 70: 41-42. Welter-Schultes F. & Audibert C., 2012. Comment on Cornu Born, 1778 (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Pul- monata, Helicidae): request for a ruling on the avail- ability of the generic name. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 69: 124-127. 412 Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 415-430 Monograph Coen’s Pyramidellidae (Gastropoda Heterobranchia): a revision of types Pasquale Micali 1 *, Italo Nofroni 2 , Riccardo Giannuzzi Savelli 3 , Francesco Pusateri 4 & Stefano Bartolini 5 'Via Papiria 17, 61032 Fano, Pesaro-Urbino, Italy; e-mail: lino.micali@virgilio.it 2 Via B. Croce 97, 00142 Roma, Italy; e-mail: italo.nofroni@uniromal.it 3 Via Mater Dolorosa 54, 90146 Palermo, Italy; e-mail: malakos@tin.it 4 Via Caste liana 64, 901 35 P alerm o, Italy; e-mail: francesco@pusate ri.it 5 Via E. Zacconi 1 6, 50 1 37 Florence, Italy; e-mail: stefmaria.bartolini@libero.it Corresponding author ABSTRACT Coen introduced several new nominal taxa in the Pyramidellidae and in most Mollusca families. The Coen types, now at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, have been examined; most of them are holotypes or lectotypes. Some lectotypes were already selected by van Aartsen. as stated in the label, therefore we have not done any further selection of types. The new pyramidellid species have been practically identified and named by Monterosato, and were all found in shell grit collected on the beach of Lido (a small island in front of Venice). None of the Coen’s new species seems to be valid. KEY WORDS Coen collection; Pyramidellidae;Adriatic Sea; Mediterranean Sea. Received 29.10.2014; accepted 20.12.2014; printed 30.03.20 1 5 Proceedings of the Eighth Malacological Pontine Meeting, October 4 th- 5th, 2014 - San Felice Circeo, Italy INTRODUCTION Giorgio Silvio Coen (1 873-1 95 1 ) was born in Venice, graduated as a civil engineer in the presti- gious University of Padua and spent his life in Venice. The malacology was for him a hobby, because his main work was as civil engineer. Any- way he had contacts with most of the eminent ma- lacologists of the period, wrote several works and arranged a rich collection of molluscs. He was a victim of the anti-Semitic laws during fascist age and being banned from publishing in Italian magazines, during the years 1 939-1 944 he pub- lished on theActa PontificiaAcademia Scientiarum, Civitate Vaticana. After the II World War he re- turned in Venice, where he died. More informations on Coen’s life are in Piani et al. (1 990). The first Coen’s work is dated 1914, when he was about 40 years old, but his name was already present in the malacological world, because there was a Turb onilla coeni Preston, 1 905 possibly (because the Author did not indicate the origin of the name) dedicated to him. When Coen was initi- ating his malacological activity, Tommaso di M aria (1 84 1 -1927), universally known as Monterosato, was one of the best known Italian malacologists and Coen used to send material to him for determina- tion. Since the first publication, Coen uses names with indication “Monterosato ms”, to indic- ate the name, normally specific, was assigned by M o n tero sa to . Really the aged Monterosato was quite a “split- ter”, with an attitude to create new species and varieties, at the same time it is surprising that all the 416 Pasquale Micali et alii new Pyramidellidae names, based on Monterosato’s determ ination are synonyms of well known species. We may suppose that the bad quality of Coen’s spe- cimens examined by Monterosato, as well as possible age-related problems of the Author are cause of this. The names dictated by the aged Monterosato, together with Coen’s attitude, some- time referred as B ourguignat’s “Nouvelle Ecole”, resulted in the creation of hundreds specific and varieties names. Possibly Coen, interested to civil architecture, was attracted by the details and loved to collect, and name, the various forms of shells. In some cases Coen understands that even if Monterosato considered that shell as a variety, and assigned a variety name, the differences are so small that should not be the case. This is the case of Pyrgulina b re vie u la v ar. rejecta M o n tero s a to ms. for which the Author states “ Forma poco diversa da lla tipica, cost nominata p ere he trovata nel detrito [Form slightly different from the typical, so named because found in shell grit]”. In the case of Turbonilla ( Tragula ) fen e strata var. turbifacta M onterosato ms. the A u thor states “ Q uesta fo rm a , dal Monterosato consider ata come specie, turbifacta, mi par piuttosto varieta della fenestrata [This form, considered by Monterosato a valid species, turbifacta, looks to me a variety of fe ties - trata ]”, practically he considers as a variety what Monterosato considered a separate species. A final consideration on the pyramidellid species: it is strange that notwithstanding the Coen’s research in the northern Adriatic, and the obvious contacts with local fishermen, all the described species have been found in the shell grit from Venice-Lido. Possibly he was not much interested in micro molluscs and all the species have been found in a sample of shell grit given by to M onterosato. Coen published more than sixty m alacological works (Piani et al., 1 990), the most extensive and interesting is the “Saggio di una Sylloge Mol- luscorum A driaticorum ” published on 1933, a com- mented list of north Adriatic molluscs, with descrip- tion of several species and varieties. The work was enriched and published again on 1 937, always as a “Memoria” of the “Real Comitato Talassografico Italiano” with the title “Nuovo Saggio di una Sylloge Molluscorum A driaticorum ”. The names created for varieties are to be con- sidered subspecific, according to art. 45.6.4 of IC ZN (4th. Edition) . Coen’s collection was very rich, with material obtained by various m alacologists (Mienis, 2012), because he established a Museum in Venice, which attracted the donations. Possibly due to the memory of the anti-Semitic persecution in Italy, Coen decided that after his death the collection had to be donated to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where it was shipped on 1953. Piani’s opin- ion (Piani, 1 9 83 ) about the presence of many Monterosato’s types in Coen collection is disputed by M ien is (2012). MATERIAL AND METHODS The Coen’s collection is preserved at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and has been loaned thanks to the courtesy of Dr. Henk K. Mienis, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Most of the type specimens are worn and difficult to de- termine without a previous knowledge of the local forms and variability. Photos has been taken using a DigitalSLR Canon EOS 400D. Sometimes in the labels the term “co-typus” is abbreviated in “c-t”. The term “co-typus” is used by Monterosato and Coen to indicate even the types, anyway it is no more accepted by ICZN. RESULTS The species are listed in the same order of description, to be clear, in case of synonymy, which name has precedence. Plate IV, showing the pyr- amidellid is the same in both works (Coen, 1 933, 1 937), therefore the comments are the same. The locality “Lido” is the name of the long and narrow island in front of Venice, that is exposed to open sea and where is possible to collect fresh shell grit. For each bibliographic reference it is indicated the used name, because this is sometime different. Quality of Coen’s drawing is very bad, much worse than drawing of shells having some dimen- sion, done a century before by other Authors (Philippi, Hoernes, Wood, Deahayes, etc.). All the drawings show a pointed apex, while some of the described species have a blunt apex! In addition to the species dealt with in the present work, there is a Pyrgulina praecisa Coen, 1914 ex Monterosato ms, of which theAuthorgives Coen’s Pyramidellidae (Gastropoda Heterobranchia): a revision of types 417 only a very bad photo at pi. IV, fig. 19. This name is not mentioned in the following w orks . A ccording to art. 12.2.7 ofICZN, a species name based on an illustration of the taxon being named to be treated as not having been published, therefore this is a nomen nudum. Tiberia ( Tiberiella ) pretiosa Coen, 1933 ex Monterosato ms. Tiberia ( Monterosato ) pretiosa Monterosato (sic) - Coen, 1933: 5 1 (n° 336), 1 64 (note 97), pi. IV, fig. 3 2 Tiberia ( Tiberiella ) pretiosa Monterosato - Coen, 1 937: 3 8 (n° 261), 148 (note 92 bis), pi. IV, fig. 32 Labels. • Coen’s label with number 730 1. • M onterosato’s handwritten label “ Tiberiella , Mont. ms. T. pretiosa, Mont. Lido!!! ombelicata!” • M onterosato’s handwritten label “ Tiberia Mont. S ezio n e di Pyra m idella , p ub blic ata” [ T ib e ria Mont. S ection of P y ram id e l la , published] • Museum’s label with register numbers “HU J 53798” and “Coen 7301”. Remarks. Coen (1 933, 1 64) describes the new species as: “ Vale la pena di rich iam are V attenzione su questa rarissima, minuta specie, di cui il mio esemplare fu determinato dall’Autore medesimo. La specie tipo di un sotto genere Tiberiella, non pub blic a to, del Monterosato stesso, e ombilicata (fig. 3 2)”. [It is worthwhile to call the attention on this very rare, minute species, of which, my only specimen was determined by the Author himself. It is the type species of the subgenus Tiberiella, not published, of M onterosato’s himself, and is umbil- ic ate d ] . Really the species is listed as Tiberia pretiosa and the new genus Tiberiella is mentioned only in the note 97. This overlook will be rectified later on (Coen, 1 937) and the species listed as Tiberia ( Tiberiella ) pretiosa. Author draws one specimen whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is 2.5 mm. Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1 937). Therefore both the species and the genus were named by Monterosato, but published by Coen. The holotype is a worn specimen, 2.4 mm high (Fig. 1). The Coen’s label indicates as locality “Lido”. The conical shape, and weak axial sculpture of the holotype suggest that could be P arthenina m onte rosatii (Clessin, 1900), that is not rare in the area. This specimen is the same mentioned by Aartsen et al. (1998: 7), who refers it to P arthenina obtusa (Brown, 1 827). Genus Tiberiella Coen, 1 933 is considered by Aartsen et al. (1998: 7) and Schander et al. (1999: 151) a junior synonym of P a rth enina Bucquoy, Dautzenberg etDollfus, 1883, because both have as type species P arthenina obtusa. Based on our determination of holotype, the two genera do not have the same type species, but we agree that shall be considered synonyms. The specific name Tiberia ( Tiberiella ) pretiosa Coen, 1933 ex Monterosato ms. shall be con- sidered junior synonym of P arthenina m o nte ro s a tii (C less in , 1 9 00). Odostomia litoris Coen, 1933 Odostomia litoris Coen - Coen, 1933: 52 (n° 345), 164 (note 98), pi. IV, fig. 33 Odostomia litoris Coen - Coen, 1937: 40 (n° 293), 149 (note 103), pi. IV, fig. 33 Labels. • Coen’s label “N° 7311 Odostomia acuta veil eta typus (ms). Lido!”. • M o n tero s ato ’s handwritten label “Odostom ia gruppo dell ’acuta” • Museum’s label with register numbers “HUJ 20846” for lectotype and 53797 for paralectotype, both with “Coen 73 11”. • A label stating that “lectotype chosen AARTSEN, 1 982 - middle one with embryonic whorls preserved” Remarks. Coen (1933) describes the new species as: “La nuova specie, da me trovata nel detrito di Lido, e sottoposta a l M o nte ro s ato , fu da Lui riconosciuta come una nuova “Odostomia del gruppo dell’ acuta (sic). Analog a a questa, lie differisce perd per i giri piatti anziche convessi; per la sutura line a re fortemente impress a; infill e per una carena, ottusa ma ben p ro nunziata , che appare suU’ultimo anfratto (fig. 33). Venezia-Lido” . [The new species, found by me in the shell grit from Lido, and submitted to Monterosato, was con- sidered by him as a new “Odostomia of the acuta 418 Pasquale Micali et alii group”. It is similar to this, but differs for the flat instead of convex whorls; for the lineas suture strongly impressed; at last for a keel, obtuse but well pronunced, present on the last whorl (fig. 33). Venice-Lido]. Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1 937). Author draws one specimen whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is about 2.9 mm. In this case the specific name was not assigned by M on te ro s ato . The lectotype is a worn specimen, 2.3 mm high (Fig. 6), fixed with the p arale c to ty p e on a black paper strip. The Coen’s label indicates as locality “Lido”. The specimen is Odostomia unidentata (Montagu, 1 803 ), a species not rare in the area. Odostomia acuta Jeffreys, 1 848 is normally ombel- icated, has rounded, instead of angulated peri- phery, oblique instead of angulated columella, lower first teleoconch whorl and slightly rounded w horls. Pyrgulina denticulus Coen, 1933 ex Monterosato ms. Pyrgulina denticulus Monts. - Coen, 1914: 12, pi. IV, fig. 17 nomen nudum Pyrgulina denticulus Monterosato mss. - Coen, 1 933: 52 (n° 355), 1 64 (note 99), pi. IV, fig. 34 Chrysallida ( Babella ) denticulus Monterosato- Coen, 1 937: 3 8 (n° 274), 149 (note 99), pi. IV, fig. 34 Labels. • Coen’s label “N 0 7 3 1 8 Chrysallida (Pyrgulina) denticulus Monts, c. t. Ven ezia -L ido” . • M onterosato’s handwritten label “Pyrgulina denticulus Mont. Lido!” • M onterosato’s handwritten label “La piu comune tra le Pyrgulina del Lido” [The most com- mon Pyrgulina at Lido]. • Museum’s label with register numbers “HUJ 53792” for lectotype and 53793 for paralectotype, both with “Coen 7318”. • A label stating that “lectotype selected by van Aartsen in glass vid” Remarks. Coen (1933, 164) describes the new spec ie s as : “ A ssai sim He ad una Turbo n ilia, e m olto vicina alia P. interstincta Montagu per la forma nettamente turriculato -conica, a profilo quasi rettilineo. Le pieghe oblique degli anfratti sono molto accentuate; ognuna di esse porta un tuber- colo sotto la sutura eel e solcata alia base, onde la conchig lia tie appare clatrata, in sen so inverso, sub suturalm ente eel al posto della carena (fig. 34). Venezia-L ido” . [Very similar to a Turbonilla, it is very close to P. interstincta Montagu for the tur- riculate-conical shape, with an almost straight profile. The oblique costae are very strong; each one has a tubercle below the suture and is sulcate at the base, giving to the shell a clathrate appear- ance in reverse way, subsuturally and at the place of the keel (fig. 34). Venice-Lido]. The boi ded part of translation is doubtful because meaning of the sentence in original description is not clear. Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1 937). Author draws one specimen, whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is about 3 mm. The lectotype is a 3 mm high (Fig. 11), a little worn and is P arthenina tereb ellum (Philippi, 1 844), a species very common in the shell grit of Venice are a . Pyrgulina alabastrum Coen, 1933 ex Monterosato ms. P y rg ulin a alab a strum M o n ts . - C o en , 1 9 1 4 : 12, pi. IV, fig. 18 nomen nudum Pyrgulina alabastrum Monterosato mss. - Coen, 1 933: 52 (n° 35 8), 1 64 (note 99), pi. IV, fig. 36 Chrysallida (P arthenina) alabastrum Monterosato mss. - Coen, 1937: 3 8 (n° 275), 149 (note 96), pi. IV, fig. 36 Labels. • Coen’s label “N° 732 0 Chrysallida (Pyrgulina) alabastrum Monts, c -t Ve n ezia Lido”. • M onterosato’s handwritten label “ Pyrgulina alabastrum M o n ts . L id o ! ! ” • Museum’s label with register numbers “HUJ 53786” for holotype, with “Coen 7320”. Remarks. Coen (1933, 164) describes the new species as: “ Unico esemplare di una forma vera- mente turb onillo ide . Conchiglia esilissim a, turricu- lata, ottusa all’ a pice, composta di 6-7 giri pianeg g ianti, un poco allargata verso la base, or- nata di pieghe longituclinali non oblique, solcate sp ir aim ente sotto la sutura, che e fortemente Coen’s Pyramidellidae (Gastropoda Heterobranchia): a revision of types 419 impressa (fig. 36). Detrito di Lido”. [A single spe- cimen of a maredly turbonilloid shape. Shell very thin, turriculate, blunt at the apex, consisting of 6- 7 flat whorls, a little enlarged toward the base, sculptured by longitudinal ribs, not oblique, spirally furrowed below the suture, that is strongly im- pressed (fig. 36). Shell grit from Lido]. Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1 937). Author draws one specimen, whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is about 2.8 m m . The lectotype is a fresh specimen, 2.7 mm high (Fig. 17); the presence of two spiral cords on upper whorls and the lack of columellar plica, indic- ates that the specimen is a P arthenina indistincta (Montagu, 1 808), a species quite frequent in the area, even at low depth. Pyrgulina ordita Coen, 1933 ex M onterosato ms. P yrgulina ordita M onterosato - Coen, 1 933: 52 (n 0 360), 1 65 (note 100), pi. IV, fig. 41 C hrysallida ( Trabecula ) ordita M on tero sato - Coen, 1 937: 3 8 (n° 280), 149 (note 1 0 2 ) , p 1. IV, fig . 4 1 Labels. • Coen’s label “N° 7321 C hrysallida ( Pyrgulina ) ordita Mont. Co-types Venezia Lido”. • M onterosato ’s handwritten label “ Pyrgulina ordita Monts. Lido!!” and “una delle piu merav- igliose per la scultura” • Museum’s label with register numbers “HUJ 53783” for holotype, with “Coen 732 1 ” number. Remarks. Coen (1 933: 1 65) describes the new species as: “ Conchiglia rissoiforme, tenuissim a , jalina; ultimo giro grande; scultura consistente in strie long itudinali sottili, estese a tutta la superficie, anche has ale; peristoma norm ale; fessura ombel- icale apparente (fig. 41). Detrito di Lido”. [Shell ris so id -like , very thin, translucent; last whorl large; sculpture consisting of thin spiral striae, covering the whole surface, including the base; peristoma norm al; false ombelical slit (fig. 41). Shell grit from L id o ] . Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1937). Author draws one specimen, whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is about 1.6 m m . The holotype is a broken specimen having the last three whorls, 1.6 mm high (Fig. 21). The flexuous and crowded axial ribs and the numerous spiral cords clearly indicates that the holotype is a P arthenina juliae (d e F o lin , 1 872), a sp ec ie s com- mon in the area at low depth. Pyrgulina coeni Coen, 1933 ex M onterosato ms. Pyrgulina coeni Monts. - Coen, 1914: 1 2 , p 1. IV, fig . 21 nomen nudum Pyrgulina coeni M onterosato mss. - Coen, 19 3 3: 52 (n° 36 1), 1 64 (note 99), pi. IV, fig. 37 C hrysallida (P artulida) coeni M onterosato - Coen, 1937: 38 (n° 278), 149 (note 98), pi. IV, fig. 37 Labels. • Coen’s label “N° 7322 C hrysallida (P y rgulina) Coeni M o n ts . ty p e s Ven ezia-L ido ” . • M onterosato’s handwritten label “ Pyrgulina Coeni , Monts, ms. Lido!! Non esti (unclear) P. turhonilloides , Brusin, apice etc.!” • Museum’s label with register numbers “HUJ 53 7 87” for lectotype and 5 37 88 for paralectotype, both with “Coen 7 3 22”. • A label stating that “two species! Left one was selected by van Aartsen as the lectotype of P. coeni, right one is too badly preserved to allow identi- fication” Remarks. In the first mention of the name (Coen, 1914: 12) add the note: “non = turbonil- loides Brus.”, meaning that it is similar, but dif- ferent from turhonilloides (Brusina, 1 869). Coen (1933: 164) describes the new species as: “Essa si differenzia dalle precedents per essere ovoide, di habitus veram ente rissoiforme, conser- vando perd tutti i c a ratte ri del gruppo. Le pie g he longitudinals, non oblique, ne tub ercolate , ne solcate, cessano b ruscam ente nella regione car- enale, cost che la base dell’ultim o giro e per- fet- tamente liscia e lucente. B ian co -latte a (fig. 37). Detrito di Lido”. [This species differs from the formers for the ovoid shape, of really rissoid-like habitus, maintaining anyway all the characters of the group. The longitudinal ribs, not oblique, neither tuberculate nor sulcate, abruptely ending at the periphery of last whorl, so the base of the last whorl is perfectly smooth and bright. Milky-white (fig. 37). Shell grit from Lido], 420 Pasquale Micali et alii M tS N kem&uZ ft i iJMia (j*c£ s&hmn/- £? 8 l AiFpFjpt- ,**4^*#^ * U jl* Aa itt'd /v. /J/S *2Z? (X-C-COCoc- z,'*e4*Jtdj6u <% ■■■■ ^Z~~Q~ / X,'& CT* THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JEhUSALE ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM HUJ S’ 5^1 t-ijr g nl ~i nft tU.v\Vi £,«.'! uvl CoCmAO? Locality ; Vfci4ktt , \.*A* » + »«■*»•►••■•■ D®m «+*++■*■»*»« Coll Oti. ^ J-liS THE HE SHEW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM HUJ f ■ 0^o3.bB WA C*L4 HW LoeaJiitv | . . • - Y*t* * 4*. . L> A 0 o*i# . , . . .. Coll. Oat ti i Coax Mil Figure 1. Tib eria (Tib e rie l la) pretio sa Coen’s collection, holotype HUJ 53798, H: 2.4 mm, Venice-Lido. Figs. 2-4. Original labels. Fig. 5 . Museum’s label. Fig. 6 . P arthenina m ontero satii (C le s sin , 1900). Figs. 7 , 8 . O dostom ia lit or is Coen’s collec- tion, lectotype and paralectotype, HUJ 20846, H: 2.3 mm, Venice-Lido. Figs. 9-10. Original labels. Fig. 11. Museum’s label. Fig. 12. O do sto m ia un id entata (Montagu, 1803). Fig. 13. P yrgulina den tic ulus Coen’s collection, lectotype HUJ 53792, H: 3 mm, Venice-Lido. Figs. 14, 15. Original labels. Fig. 16. Museum’s label. Fig. 17. P arthenina te re b e llum (Philippi, 1844). Coen’s Pyramidellidae (Gastropoda Heterobranchia): a revision of types 421 . c.-rA JCj&+ THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM HUJ 5?f fl6 . . . Py ' hflL Cu<-rt Locality ^ _ , . . ■ - V*tCi^4. Date Coll D« N ./ THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM huj£*H3 ...... Orditu r , . ..'&** i*j33 Locality ....... Oate ............. Coll Oet &&£**** C At* fill 4 ■* // THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM HUJ 5" 3} #3 ^ ■Bata.'AlJ , . . X // f**4f Locality 1 t||l I ¥c*Uc - 4* ........... Date .... + Coll * , Det. M -K ./ t ui 4 5 r 1 * ' ■ Wfr**.* ki*^ A.rVj#^ FO 4 p -***“ : rijliF tn. >' *- F " , * , — 7 Figure 18. Pyrgulina a lab a strum Coen’s collection, lectotype, HUJ 53786, H: 2.7 mm, Venice-Lido. Figs. 19, 20. Original labels. Fig. 2 1. M useum’s label. Fig . 2 2. P a rthen in a in d is tin eta (Montagu, 1 808). Fig . 23. Pyrgulina ordita Coen’s collection, holotype, HUJ 53783, H: 1.6 mm, Venice-Lido. Figs. 24, 25. Original labels. Fig. 26. Museum’s label. Fig. 27. P a rthen in a juliae (de Folin, 1 872). Fig. 28. Pyrgulina coeni Coen’s collection, lectotype, HUJ 5 3 787, H: 1.9 mm, Venice-Lido. Figs. 29, 30. Original labels. Fig. 31. Museum’s label. Fig. 32. P artulid a incerta (Milaschewitsch, 1916) 422 Pasquale Micali et alii Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1 937). Author draws one specimen, whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is about 2 mm. The lectotype is a worn specimen, 1.9 mm high (Fig. 25). Its shape leaves no doubt that it is a P artulid a incerta (Milaschewitsch, 1916) of which are synonyms P. turb o nillo id e s (Brusina, 1869) and P. brusinai (Cossmann, 1921). This species is frequent in the area, at low depth. Pyrgulina pyrgulella Coen, 1933 ex Monterosato ms. Pyrgulina pyrgulella Monterosato - Coen, 1933: 52 (n° 363), 1 65 (note 101), pi. IV, fig. 42 C hrysallida (O do s to m e l la) pyrgulella M onterosato mss. - Coen, 1 937: 3 8 (n° 269), 148 (note 94), pi. IV, fig. 42 Labels • Coen’s label “N 0 7 3 2 3 C hrysallida (P yrgulina) pyrgulella Monts, (unclear) Venezia Lido”. • M onterosato’s handwritten label “ Pyrgulina pyrgulella Monts. Lido!!” • Museum’s label with register numbers “HUJ 5 3 79 1” for holo type with “Coen 7323”. Remarks. Coen (1933: 164) describes the new species as: “ Conchiglia tu rricu lata , ottusa alia sommita, com posta di 6-7 giri, lisci gli apicali, gli altri solcati lo ng itudinalm ente , salvo una zona sub- suturale di ogni giro e la base dell’ultimo, die rim angono liscie; columella obliquam ente e forte- mente ritorta; peristoma sinuoso alia base. Bianca (fig. 42). Detrito di Lido”. [Shell turriculate, blunt at the apex, consisting of 6-7 whorls, the apicals are smooth, the others longitudinally costate, except one subsutural zone of each whorl and the base of the last whorl, that are smooth; columella markedly and obliquely folded; peristome sinuose at the base. White (fig. 42). Shell grit from Lido]. Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1937). Author draws one specimen, whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is about 2 mm. The holotype is 2.1 mm high (Fig. 30), worn and partially broken. The first teleo conch whorl appears smooth and this character suggests that specimen could be P arthenina terebellum (Philippi, 1 844) (Clessin, 1900), a species quite frequent in the area, even at low depth. Pyrgulina vixstriata Coen, 1933 ex Monterosato ms. Pyrgulina vixstriata Monterosato mss. - Coen, 1 933: 52 (n° 364), 1 65 (note 99), tav. IV, fig. 38 C hrysallida (O do stom ella) vixstriata Monterosato mss. - Coen, 1 937: 3 8 (n° 267), 148 (note 93), tav. IV, fig . 3 8 Labels • Coen’s label “N 0 7 3 24 C hrysallida ( Pyrgulina ) vix striata M onts. c-t Venezia Lido”. • M onterosato’s handwritten label “Pyrgulina vix-striata, Mont, buon tipo Lido!! N . B. la gomma non fa apparire le strie ” [ Pyrgulina vix-striata , Mont, valid type Lido!! N. B. the glue prevents the observation of the striae]. • Museum’s label with Lectotype register num- bers “HUJ 5 378 1 ” and Paralectotype “HUJ 53782”, both with “Coen 7324”. • A label stating that: “the single shell was selected as lectotyp e by van A arisen, 25.8.1987”. Remarks. Coen (1933: 148) describes the new species as: “Ha un habitus ov o ide-ris soifo rm e ; molto ottusa all’ a pice, const a di 4-5 giri convessi, ornati di pieghe longitudinali ondulate, che sono solcate trasv ersalm ente sopra la sutura, eel evanes- centi (non troncate) sulla base dell’ultimo giro. B ianca (fig . 3 8). D etrito di Lido” . [It has an o v o id , rissoid-like profile; very blunt at the apex, with 4-5 convex whorls, sculptured by longitudinal ondu- lated ribs, that are transversally sulcate above the suture and evanescent (not truncated) at the base of the last whorl. White (fig. 38). Shell grit from Lido] Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1 937). Author draws one specimen from Venice, whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is 1.5 mm.” The lectotype is a specimen 1.3 mm high (Fig. 35). The flexuous and crowded axial ribs and the numerous spiral cords clearly indicates that both the specimens are P arthenina juliae (de Folin, 1 872), a species common in the area at low depth. It is intersting to note that the subgenus has been corrected in Coen’s label to Pyrgulina , that is not the one used in the second publication. Unfortu- nately it is not possible to identify the erased word. Coen’s Pyramidellidae (Gastropoda Heterobranchia): a revision of types 423 Pyrgulina brevicula var. rejecta Coen, 1933 ex Monterosato ms. Pyrgulina brevicula var. rejecta Monterosato - Coen, 1 933: 54 (n° 367), 1 65 (note 99), pi. IV, fig- 39 Chrysallida ( Partulida ) brevicula rejecta Monterosato mss.- Coen, 1 937: 3 8 (n° 279), 149 (note 98), pi. IV, fig. 39 Labels. • Coen’s label “N° 7326 Chrysallida ( Pyrgulina ) tu rb o nillo id e s rejecta Monterosato c-t Venezia Lido!”. • M onterosato’s handwritten label “Pyrgulina rejecta, Monts. Lido!! Gruppo della turbonilloides” • Museum’s label with register numbers “HUJ 53779” for lectotype and 53780 for paralectotype, both with “Coen 7326”. • A label stating that “Specimen to the extreme right was selected as the lectotype by van Aartsen 25.8.1 987”. Remarks. Coen (1933: 164) describes the new species as: “ Forma poco diversa da lla tipica, cost nominata perche trovata nel detrito: carattere, id solco spirale alia base delle pieghe longitudinali, molto p rofo nd am ente impresso. Bianca (fig. 3 9). Detrito di Lido”. [Shape a little different from the typical, so called because found in the shell grit: characterised by very deeply impressed spiral groove at the base oflongitudinal ribs. White (fig. 39). Shell grit from Lido], Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1937). Author draws one specimen, whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is about 1.6 mm. The lectotype is a worn specimen, 1.8 mm high (Fig. 41). Its shape leaves no doubt that it is a Partulida incerta (Milaschewitsch, 1916) of which are synonyms turbonilloides (Brusina, 1 869) and b rusinai (Cossmann, 1 9 2 1 ) . T his specie s is freq uen t in the area, at low depth. The lectotype has been selected by Aartsen (see above its label) from a set of four specimens fixed on a black paper strip (Fig. 42). The specimen at extreme left of the strip seems to be a P arthenina inclistincta (Montagu, 1 808). It is surprising to note that both M onterosato’s and Coen’s label correctly refer the variety “ rejecta ” to turbonilloides, while in both publica- tions Coen uses a different specific name. The real identity of Chrysallida brevicula (Jeff re ys, 1883), originally described as O dostomia brevicula, has been clarified by Giannuzzi Savelli et al. (2011), who studied the type material with the result that the species was based on an immature specimen of Turbonilla amoena (Monterosato, 1 878). Pyrgulina cylindracea Coen, 1933 ex Monterosato ms. Pyrgulina cylindracea Monterosato mss. - Coen, 1933: 54 (n° 368), 1 65 (note 1 02), p 1. IV, fig . 4 3 Chrysallida (O dostom elda) cylindracea Monterosato mss. - Coen, 1937: 38 (n° 271), 149 (note 101), pi. IV, fig. 43 Labels. • Coen’s label “N° 7327 Chrysallida (Pyrgulina) cylindracea Monts, c - t Ven ezia-L ido ! ” . • M onterosato’s handwritten label “ Pyrgulina cylindracea Monts. Lido!!” • Museum’s label with register numbers “HUJ 5 3 784 ” for le c to typ e and 53785 for paralectotype, both with “Coen 73 27”. Remarks. Coen (1933: 165) describes the new species as: “C onchiglia turriculata, m elaniifo rm e , vitrea, con 5-6 giri poco, ma re g o la rm e rite , convessi, de i quali i p rim i so no glob ulo si e lis c i, g Id altri deb olm ente solcati. Base liscia. Apertura alia base a cu tarn e rite svasata, come in una Melania (fig. 43). Detrito di Lido”. [Shell turriculate, melania- like, vitreous, with 5-6 whorls, slightly and regu- larly convex, the formers are globose and smooth, the latters weakly sulcate. Base sm ooth. A perture acutely expanded at the base, like in a M elan ia (fig. 43). Shell grit from Lido]. Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1937). Author draws one specimen, whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is about 1.8 mm. The lectotype is a worn and partially broken specimen, 1.9 mm high (Fig. 48) and seems to be P arthenina te reb ellurn (Philippi, 1 844), a species very common in the shell grit of Venice area. The figured specimen is fixed to a black paper strip (Fig. 49) with the final portion (about 2.5 whorls) of a much larger specimen that seems to belong to same species. 424 Pasquale Micali et alii '’*** A* if. / ■fa? 'T' LJL fa t > I m/if * U r THE KERRCVV UNIVERSITY Of JERUSALEM zoological museum hujJ^SI FnitOuIIaa VkAitr.'ntji FHtA t*V- n * ifer > C»*y Xt-^. A*^° ^ v: ■ . Dftt t Coll. Oer AilJS* THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY Of JERUSALEM ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM HUJ OtA 1 Co*l'T Dili 0*1 t ^ f*C*h con e. Figure 33. P yrgulin a pyrgulella Coen’s collection, holotype, HUJ 53791, H: 2.1 mm, Venice-Lido. Figures 34, 35. Ori- ginal labels. Fig. 36. Museum’s label. Fig. 37. Parthenina terebellum (Philippi, 1 844). Fig. 38. Pyrgulina vixstriata Coen’s collection, lectotype, HUJ 5 3 7 8 1, H: 1.3 mm, Venice-Lido. Fig. 39. P. vixstriata , paralectotype HUJ 5 3 7 82, H: 1.5 mm, Venice-Lido. Figures 40, 41. Original labels. Fig. 42. Museum’s label. Fig. 43. Parthenina juliae (de Folin, 1 872). [22 Coen’s Pyramidellidae (Gastropoda Heterobranchia): a revision of types 425 to fcl*. 1 W*J bL<- 1 *-<-X i t-Jpt t THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM Tyrjulbin h A V«r- TCjAttA C**€Yl T^l 53 Locality , Vc,a n* , L*4« Due ,,,,.. Coll D*t & „i .to 1*1 £♦»* TStfc THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM hujJHS 0 rwr**J*H* tfivl tnU '»*/. — - — c^u l \sr~~ L«ihiv . . . , , C4 . Li J o ......... Dll* , , . . , Coll Dot U 3 Coe*, Co*m *)/i £4+4*_ / Py £ i'i i ^*r r ' e\^ ..4k*t6.-.c -4* THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM r thrift Viy,gliY;t4 Cue.* |Jj i J Localitv i (A. L,'. ........... Dale , . Coir. . . Dei Co**l 1 it* THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM muj n>0.£ P^r US a - aMi* Cjh*^ ij|>3 Locality X fe#A J ,Vm\u . WT A? Data , . Call. ....... Dei tSOtH ... £*•» Figures 44, 45. Pyrgulina b revicula var. rejecta Coen's collection, lectotype, HUJ 5 3779, H: 1.8 mm, Venice-Lido and paralectotypes HUJ 53780, the specimen applied on paper strip at extreme left is a P a rthen in a indistincta (M ontagu, 1808). Figs. 46, 47. Original labels. Fig. 48. Museum's label. Fig. 49. Partulida incerta (M ilasche w itsch, 1916). Figs. 50, 51. Pyrgulina cylind racea Coen’s collection, lectotype, HUJ 53784, H: 1.9 mm, Venice-Lido and paralectotype HUJ 5 3785. Figs. 52, 53. Original labels. Fig. 54. Museum’s labels. Fig. 55. P a rthen in a tereb ellum (Philippi, 1844). 426 Pasquale Micali et alii Pyrgulina canaliculata Coen, 1933 ex Monterosato m s . Pyrgulina canaliculata Monterosato ms. - Coen, 1 933: 54 (n° 369), 1 65 (note 99), pi. IV, fig. 40 C hrysallida (P arthenina) canaliculata Monterosato mss. - Coen, 1 937: 3 8 (n° 276), 149 (note 97), pi. IV, fig . 4 0 Labels. • Coen’s label “N° 7328 C hrysallida {Pyrgulina) canaliculata co-types. Venezia Lido”. • M onterosato’s handwritten label “ Pyrgulina canaliculata M onts. Lido ! !” • Museum’s label with register numbers “HUJ 5 3 7 94 ” fo r holo typ e , with “Coen 7328”. Remarks. Coen (1933: 165) describes the new species as: “Conchiglia turricu lato -m etafo rm e , con giri piani, di cui i primi lisci, gli altri con pieghe longituclinali profonde, tagliate sopra la sutura da un solco trav ersale , e sull’ultimo giro clatrate fino alia meta; base liscia, apertura normale. II nome viene clalla sutura, p ro fonda- nt ente imp ressa . Bianca {fig. 40). Detrito di Lido”. [Shell turriculate, whorls flat, the formers smooth, the following with deep longitudinal ribs, crossed above the suture by a spiral groove and, on the last whorl, clathrate up to the middle; base smooth, aperture normal. The name derives from the deeply impressed suture. White (fig. 40). Shell grit fro m Lido]. Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1937). Author draws one specimen, whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is about 1.9 mm. The holotype is a worn specimen, 1.8 mm high (Fig. 5 1). The presence oftwo spiral cords on upper whorls and the lack of columellar plica, indic- ates that the specimen is a P arthenina indistincta (Montagu, 1 808), a species quite frequent in the area, even at low depth. Pyrgulina mitis Coen, 1 933 ex Monterosato ms. Pyrgulina mitis Monterosato ms. - Coen, 1933: 54 (n° 370), 1 65 (note 103), pi. IV, fig. 44 C hrysallida (O d o s to m e lla) mitis Monterosato mss. - Coen, 1937: 38 (n° 270), 149 (note 100), pi. IV, fig. 44 Labels. • Coen’s label “N° 7329 C hrysallida ( Pyrgulina ) mitis Mont, c-t Venezia - Lido”. • M onterosato’s handwritten label “ Pyrgulina m itis Monts. Lido!!” • Museum’s label with register numbers “ HUJ 5 3 7 8 9 ” fo r lectotyp e and 53 790 for pa ralecto typ e , both with “Coen 73 2 9”. • A label stating that “ most right hand specimen se lected as lectotyp e by van Aartsen 25.08.1989 ” Remarks. Coen (1933: 165) describes the new species as: “ Conchiglia turriculata, ad apice ottuso, giri piani, lisci i primi, gli altri con forth solchi per lungo, cess anti alia meta dell’ ultimo giro eel ivi clatrati; sutura p rofo ndis sim a ; apertura allungata, svasata acutam ente alia base; la columella porta una piega dentiform e mediana molto pronunziata eel una p rofo n d a fe s s u r a ombilicale lungo la cal- losita colum e Ida re . B ianca (fig . 44 )” . [Shell turricu- late, apex blunt, whorls flat, the initials are smooth, the following with strong ribs, ending at the middle of the last whorl, where are clathrate; Suture very deep; aperture elongate, acutely expanded at the base; on the central part of the columella there is a strong tooth-like fold and a deep umbilical chink along the columellar callus. White (fig. 44).]. Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1937). Author draws one specimen, whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is about 1.8 mm. The lectotype is 1.8 mm high (Fig. 57); it is P arthenina te re b e llum (Philippi, 1 844), a species very common in the shell grit of Venice area. The figured lectotype (the one selected by van Aartsen) is fixed to a black paper strip (Fig. 58) with other three specim ens. Eulimella curtata Coen, 1 93 3 ex Monterosato m s . Eulimella curtata Monterosato ms. - Coen, 1933: 54 (n° 375), 1 65 (note 104), pi. IV, fig. 45 Eulimella curtata Monterosato mss. - Coen, 1937: 40 (n° 300), 149 (note 104), pi. IV, fig. 45 Labels. • Coen’s label “N° 7 3 3 1 Eulimella curtata Monts, c-t Venezia Lido”. • M onterosato ’s handwritten labels “Eulimella com m utata = acicula Lido!!” and “ non e commut- ata m a curtata a Lido anche la non comm utata”. Coen’s Pyramidellidae (Gastropoda Heterobranchia): a revision of types 427 Figure 56. P yrgulina ca n a lieu la ta Coen’s collection, holotype, HUJ 52794, H: 1.8 mm, Venice-Lido. Figures 57, 58. Original labels. Fig. 59. Museum’s label. Fig. 60. P arthenina indistincta (Montagu, 1 808). Figs. 61, 62. Pyrgulina mitis Coen’s collection, lectotype, HUJ 5 3789, H: 1.8 mm, Venice-Lido and paralectotypes HUJ 5 3790. Figs. 63, 64. Original labels. Fig. 6 5. Museum’s label. Fig. 66. P arthenina terebellum (Philippi, 1 844). 428 Pasquale Micali et alii Figure 67. Eulimella curtata Coen’s collection, holotype, HUJ 20847, H: 2.7 mm, Venice-Lido. Figs. 68, 69. Original labels. Fig. 70. Museum’s label. Fig. 71. Eulimella flagellum Coen’s collection, holotype, HUJ 20848, H: 2.7 mm, Venice-Lido Figs. 72, 73. Original labels. Fig. 74. Museum's label. Fig. 75. Eulimella acicula (Philippi, 1836). M eaning of the second label not clear, therefore not translated. • Museum’s label with register numbers “ HUJ Remarks. Coen (1933: 165) describes the new species as: “Poco lontana clalla E. acicula Philippi, se ne distingue per I’habitus piii m etafo rm e ed ot- tuso all’ ap ice , per i giri piii convessi, e sop rattutto 2 08 47” for ho lo ty p e , w ith “Coen 7331 ” Coen’s Pyramidellidae (Gastropoda Heterobranchia): a revision of types 429 per I’apertura che, anziche allungata e regolar- m ente curva alia base, vi e abbreviata e di forma trap ezo idale . J a lina (fig . 4 5) . D etrito di Lido" . [Not far from E. acicula Philippi, may be separated for the profile more regular and blunt at the apex, the more convex whorls, and mainly for the aperture, which instead of elongate and regularly curved at the base, is abbreviated and trapezoidal. Jaline (fig. 45). Shell grit of Lido], Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1937).Author draws one specimen, whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is about 2.3 m m . The holotype is a little worn specimen, 2.7 mm high (Fig. 63), the protoconch is coiled at right angle with respect to teleoconch axis, the profile is slightly cyrtoconoid, whorls are flat, suture inclined and columellar plica is very weak or absent. The holotype seems to be Eulimella acicula (Philippi, 1 836). Eulimella flagellum Coen, 1933 ex Monterosato ms. E u Urn ella flag ellu m Monterosato ms. - Coen, 1933: 54 (n° 377), 1 65 (note 105), pi. IV, fig. 46 Eu Urn ella flagellum M on tero sato ms. - Coen, 1937: 40 (n° 30 1 ), 149 (note 105), pi. IV, fig. 46 Labels. • Coen’s label “N° 7333 Eulimella flag ellu m Monts, co - ty p u s (ms). Venezia L id o ! ” . • M onterosato’s handwritten label “ Eulimella flagellum Monts, oppure: (Unclear)! Lido ” • Museum’s label with register numbers “ H U J 2 0 8 4 8 ” fo r ho lo typ e , w ith “Coen 7333”. Remarks. Coen (1 933: 1 65) describes the new species as: “ Forma stretta, allun g atiss im a , con 10 giri piatti lisci lucenti, sutura profonda, apertura piriforme stretta ed allungata (fig. 46). D etrito di Lido". [Shell narrow, very elongate, with 10 flat, smooth and bright whorls, deep suture, aperture pyriform, narrow and elongate (fig. 46). Shell grit fro m L id o ] . Note is unchanged in the second work (Coen, 1937). Author draw one specimen, whose height, derived by the indicated scale factor is about 2.4 m m . The holotype is 2.7 mm high (Fig. 67), the protoconch is coiled at right angle with respect to teleoconch axis, the profile is slightly cyrto- conoid, whorls are flat, suture inclined and columellar plica is very weak or absent. The holotype could be a freak of Eulimella acicula (Philippi, 1836), or an E u Urn e l la c lav a tula Sacco, 1 892, a pliocenic species (see Chirli & Micali, 2 0 11). The presence of a fossil specimen in the shell grit collected on the beach of the Lido is however unlikely. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank Dr. Henk K. Mienis, TelAviv Univer- sity, Department of Zoology, Israel, manager of m ollu skscollection for the loan of C oen ’sm aterial. REFERENCES A artsen J. J. van, Gittenberger E. & Goud J., 1998. (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Heterobranchia) collected during the Dutch CANCAP and Mauritania expedi- tions in the south-eastern part of the North Atlantic Ocean (part 1). Zoologische Verhandelingen, 321: 3-57. Clessin S., 1 899-1902. Die Familie der Eulimidae. (Vol. 1, part 28: [4] + 273 pp., 41 pis.), in: Kiister H.C. (ed.), 1837-1919 [1918]. System atisches Conchylien- Cabinet von Martini und Chemnitz. Bauer & Raspe, N urn berg (the page concerning P. monterosati was published in 1900). Chirli C. & Micali P., 2011. Malacofauna Pliocenica Toscana. Vol. 8. Pyram idelloidea. X + 131 pp, 40 pi. Coen G., 1914. Contributo alio studio della Fauna mala- cologica Adriatica. Regio Comitato Talassografico Italian o . Memoria XLVI, Venezia, 34 pp., 7 pi. Coen G ., 1 93 3. Saggio di una Sylloge Molluscorum A driaticorum . Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. Regio Comitato Talassografico Italiano. Memoria C X C II, Venezia, vii+ 186 pp., 10 pi. Coen G ., 1 93 7. N uovo Saggio di una Sylloge Mol- luscorum A driaticorum. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. Regio Comitato Talassografico Italiano. M e m oria CCXL, Venezia: vii+ 173 pp., 10 pi. Giannuzzi Savelli R., Micali P., Nofroni I. & Pusateri F., 2011. Odostomia b re vie it la Jeffreys, 1 883 junior synonym of Turbonilla am oen a (Monterosato, 1 878 ) (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia, Pyramidellidae). Biodiversity Journal, 2: 2 17-220. 430 Pasquale Micali et alii MienisH.K., 2012. Four important contributed mollusc collections their histories and contents. l.Giorgio S. Coen (1873-1951) and his mollusc collection. Haasiana, 6: 11-37. P ian i P. 1 9 8 3. Della < > , di G .S . Coen e di altre cose ancora. Bollettino Malacologico, 19: 273-278. Piani P.. Bouchet Ph. & Ghisotti F., 1990. Lavori Mala- cologici di G.S. Coen. Bollettino Malacologico, 26: 148-152. Schander C . , A arts e n J. J. van & Corgan J., 1999. Famil- ies and genera of the Pyramidelloidea (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Bollettino Malacologico, 34: 145- 166. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 431-440 Monograph Additional notes on the systematics and new records of East Atlantic species of the genus Sorgenfreispira Moroni, 1979 (Gastropoda Mangeliidae) Paolo Mariottini 1 , Andrea Di Giulio 1 , Carlo Smriglio 1 * & Marco Oliverio 2 1 Dipartimento di Scienze, Universita di “Roma Tre”, Viale Marconi 446, 00146 Rome, Italy; e-mail: paolo.mariottini@uniroma3.it; andrea.digiulio@uniroma3 .it 2 Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie “Charles Darwin”, Universita di Roma “La Sapienza”, Viale delLUniversita 32, 00185 Rome, Italy; e-mail: marco.oliverio@uniromal.it ^Corresponding author, e-mail: csmriglio@alice.it ABSTRACT The Recent species currently ascribed to the Bela brachystoma-complQx, Gastropoda Mangeliidae, (i.e.: Bela brachystoma (Philippi, 1844); Bela africana Ardovini, 2004; Bela ardovinii Mariottini et Oliverio, 2008; Bela exilis (Ardovini, 2004) should better be allocated in the genus Sorgenfreispira Moroni, 1979. Based on numerous samples, the distribution of the Recent species is summarised. Sorgenfreispira brachystoma (Philippi, 1844) comb. nov. ranges from Scandinavia to southern Morocco. Sorgenfreispira africana (Ardovini, 2004) comb. nov. is first recorded from Western Sahara, Ivory Coast, Angola and Ghana; Sorgen- freispira ardovinii (Mariottini et Oliverio, 2008) comb. nov. is first recorded from Ivory Coast; S. exilis (Ardovini, 2004) comb. nov. is first recorded from Mauritania, Western Sahara, Ivory Coast, Angola. Based on the study of the type material, Bela brachystoma apicalis Nordsieck, 1977, was actually based on specimens of B. taprurensis Pallary, 1904. Bela taprurensis is here first recorded from Libya. KEY WORDS Gastropoda; Mangeliidae; Bela; Sorgenfreispira; Recent; first records; new combinations. Received 12.11.2014; accepted 19.01.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the Eighth Malacological Pontine Meeting, October 4th- 5th, 2014 - San Felice Circeo, Italy INTRODUCTION After the revision by Mariottini et al. (2008, 2009), four morphologically similar Recent species are included in the Bela brachystoma-complex: Bela brachystoma (Philippi, 1 844), originally described from the Mediterranean Sea, and three eastern Atlantic species, namely B. africana Ardovini, 2004, B. ardovinii Mariottini et Oliverio, 2008 and B. exilis Ardovini, 2004, all described, and so far known only from the type locality in Senegal. The species of this complex have been so far conservatively included in the genus Bela Gray, 1847, despite their very peculiar sculpture of both protoconch and teleo- conch as compared to the other species traditionally ascribed to Bela [e.g. Bela zonata (Locard, 1892) or B. menkhorsti van Aartsen, 1988; see Scarponi et al., 2014]. However, they certainly belong to a morpho- logically very homogeneous group, to which also several fossil species belong. Among them the Mio- cene Cythara ( Mangelia ) moronii Venzo et Pelosio, 1964, is the type species of the genus Sorgenfre- ispira Moroni, 1979, which was proposed to allocate those fossills, and is veiy similar to B. exilis. There- fore, we propose hereby to include Pleurotoma bra- chystomum Philippi, 1844 and the three eastern 432 Paolo Mariottini etalii Atlantic species of the complex in Sorgenfreispira. We have examined numerous samples of this com- plex from the East Atlantic, mostly at the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris, France), and summarized the known geographic ranges of each species, with new records for most species. For detailed morphological comparisons among the species see Mariottini et al. (2008). ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS. CS- PM: Carlo Smriglio and Paolo Mariottini collec- tion (Rome, Italy); lv: live collected specimen(s); MCZR: Museo Civico di Zoologia di Roma (Rome, Italy); MMP: Museo Malacologico Piceno (Cupra Marittima, Italy); MNHN: Museum Na- tional d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris, France); MO: Marco Oliverio collection (Rome, Italy); RA: Roberto Ardovini collection (Rome, Italy); Scan- ning Electron Microscopy (SEM); sh: empty shell(s); SMF: Senckenberg Museum (Frankfurt, Germany); sta: station. SYSTEMATICS Sorgenfreispira Moroni, 1979: 2 Type species: Cythara ( Mangelia ) moronii Venzo et Pelosio, 1964, by original designation Description. Shell very small for the genus, height 3.4-3. 8 mm, width 1.5-1. 6 mm, biconical, turriculate elongate, solid. Protoconch multispiral, dome shaped, of2.6-2.7 convex whorls. Protoconch- I (embryonic shell) of 0.4 whorls, separated by a de- marcation from protoconch-II (larval shell). First 1 .7-1 .8 apical whorls apparently smooth, the nucleus with very fine striae, the remaining with reticulated sculpture of 5-6 granulose spirals (3 major, 1-2 smaller subsutural, 1 smaller suprasutural), crossed by oblique axial riblets. Maximum diameter of proto- conch 760-780 pm. Protoconch-teleoconch trans- ition not well marked. Teleoconch of 2.5-3 whorls, rounded, sutural ramp convex, whorl sides gently convex. Fast whorl about 3/5 of shell length. Axial sculpture of 8-9 prominent, narrowly rounded axial ribs fading out at the base, regularly spaced, with equally sized interspaces. Spiral sculpture of 17-18 granulose cords, regularly spaces, with larger inter- spaces. Smaller granulose cordlets in most inter- spaces. Entire surface covered by microgranules. Aperture narrow, ovate, about 2/5 of the shell height. Siphonal canal short, broad and open, very slightly deviating on the left. Inner lip with a weak parietal callus. Outer lip not varicose. Anal sinus marked, ar- cuate on shoulder slope. Colour yellowish with white axial ribs, darker brown band in the middle of teleo- conch whorl, base milk white, parietal callus brown. Remarks. Moroni (1979) introduced this genus level taxon for a species of the Italian Miocene, comprising also a group of species of the Jutland Miocene, that Sorgenfrei (1958) had ascribed to the genus Neoguraleus Powell, 1939 (type species Drillia sinclairi Gillies, 882, Recent, New Zealand): Pleurotoma tenella Mayer, 1858, Daphnella Calais Kautsky, 1925, and Mangelia gurichi Kautsky, 1925. Although the actual sys- tematics of the three latter species may be debated, Sorgenfreispira moronii is undoubtedly related to B. exilis. Therefore, we propose hereby the transfer of B. brachystoma, B. africana, B. ardovinii and B. exilis to the genus Sorgenfreispira (for the distribu- tion of this species see Fig. 1). Sorgenfreispira africana (Ardovini, 2004) comb, nov. (Figs. 1, 2-5) Bela brachystoma africana Ardovini, 2004: 7, Fig. unnumbered. Type locality. South of Dakar, Senegal. Type Ma- terial. Holotype (MMP) and 1 paratype (RA). Examined material. Western Sahara: sta. 12385-3, 22°33.9’N 16°54’E, 54-58 m 8 sh (MNHN); sta. 12[3]88-3, 22°30.5’N 16°53.8’E, 56- 57 m 3 sh (MNHN); sta. 12381-1, 22°32.2’N 17°04’E, 58 m 42 sh (MNHN). Mauritania. R/V N’Diago sta. 204, 17°30’N 16°24’W, 88 m 1 sh (MNHN); sta. 218, 17°36’N 16°26’W, 99 m 2 sh (MNHN); sta. 244, 17°54’N 16°32’W, 200 m 1 sh (MNHN); sta. 245, 17°54’N 16°29’W, 145 m 1 sh (MNHN); sta. 289, 18°54’N 16°32’W, 60 m 1 sh (MNHN); 365, 19°30’N 16°55’W, 78 m 1 sh (MNHN); Miss. P. Etienne 1965 sta. 19, 20°20’N 16°22’W, 10 m 5 sh (MNHN). Senegal. Region of Dakar: Goree, 95 m 4 sh (MNHN), 95-110 m 1 sh (MNHN), 100 m 9 sh (MNHN); 14°51’N 17°30’W, 180-165 m 2 sh (MNHN); 14°32’N 17°25’W, 50 m 11 sh (MNHN); off Saloum, 50 m 9 sh (MNHN); 30 miles South of Dakar, Senegal, 45 m, 12 lv in the gut content of Astropecten cfr. auranciacus (CS-PM coll). On the systematics and new records of East Atlantic species of the genus Sorgenfreispira (Gastropoda Mangeliidae) 433 Ivory Cost, unknown locality, plateau contin- ental [no further data], 107 sh (MNHN). Ghana. R/V Calypsol953 sta. 25, 4°36.5’N 1°31’W, 4 sh (MNHN). Angola. Corimba, Luanda, 10-20 m, 3 sh (MNHN). Distribution. Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Angola (Fig. 1). Remarks. The valid introduction of this taxon is by Ardovini (2004), although subsequently (Ardovini, 2008) its author redescribed it as a new species, having realised that it was worth of species rank. Sorgenfreispira africana is not uncommon in East Africa, and it is here first recorded from Western Sahara, Mauritania, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Angola. Sorgenfreispira ardovinii (Mariottini et Oliv- erio, 2008) comb. nov. (Figs. 1, 6-9) Bela ardovinii Mariottini et Oliverio, 2008: 8, Figs. 97-99, 102, 119-126, 149-150, 166 Type locality. South of Dakar, Senegal. Type mate- rial. Figure 1. Map of the records of Sorgenfreispira africana, S. ardovinii and S. exilis. The area of their type locality and of records in Mariottini et al. (2008), off Senegal, is enclosed in the grey circle. Holotype (MNHN 21321) and paratype K (MNHN 21322); paratypes A-F (RA); paratypes G-J, L (CS-PM); paratypes M-N (MO). Examined material. The type material, all from 30 miles South of Dakar, -45 m: Ivory Cost: un- known locality, plateau continental [no further data], 8 sh (MNHN). Description. Shell very small for the genus, height 3.7 mm, width 1.4 mm, biconical, turriculate elongate, solid. Protoconch multispiral, dome shaped, of 3. 2-3. 3 convex whorls. Protoconch-I (embryonic shell) of 0.8 whorls, separated by a demarcation from protoconch-II (larval shell). First 1. 0-1.1 apical whorls densely covered by micro- granules, next 0.7-0. 8 whorl apparently smooth, the remaining with reticulated sculpture of 5 spiral series of tubercles (3 major, 1 smaller subsutural, 1 smaller suprasutural), crossed by weak opisthocline axial riblets, more evident subsuturally. Spiral cords corresponding to each spiral series of tubercles gradually appearing on the last protoconch whorl. Maximum diameter of protoconch 690-710 pm. Protoconch-teleoconch transition not well marked. Teleoconch of 2. 5-2. 7 whorls, rounded, sutural ramp convex, whorl sides very gently convex. Last whorl about 3/5 of shell length. Axial sculpture of 8-10 rounded axial ribs fading at base, regularly spaced, with narrower interspaces. Spiral sculpture of one major granulose cord, and 20-28 granulose cordlets, irregularly spaced. Smaller granulose threads in most interspaces. Entire surface covered by microgranules. Aperture narrow, ovate, about 2/5 of shell height. Siphonal canal short, broad and open, slightly deviating to the left. Inner lip with a weak parietal callus. Outer lip not varicose. Anal sinus marked, arcuate on shoulder slope. Colour uniformly reddish-brown. Distribution. Senegal, Ivory Coast (Fig. 1). Remarks. Sorgenfreispira ardovinii remains the least common among the species of this complex. The 8 shells from Ivory Coast represent a remark- able range extension for the species, which was found there syntopic with S. exilis and S. africana. Sorgenfreispira exilis (Ardovini, 2004) comb. nov. (Figs. 1, 10-13) Bela exilis Ardovini, 2004: 8, Figs, unnumbered 434 Paolo Mariottini etalii Type locality. South of Dakar, Senegal. Type material. Holotype (MMP); paratypes 1-3 (RA). Examined material. Western Sahara: sta. 12[3]88-3, 22°30.5’N 16°53.8’E, 56-57 m 1 sh (MNHN); sta. 12381-1, 22°32.2’N 17°04’E, 58 m 2 sh (MNHN). Mauritania. R/V N’Diago sta. 229, 17°42’N 16°131’W, 40 m 1 sh (MNHN); sta. 309, 19°06’N 16°31’W, 24 m 1 sh (MNHN). Senegal. Region of Dakar: 30 miles South of Dakar, 45 m, (in the gut content of Astropecten cfr. auranciacus ) 18 lv; Goree, 95 m 9 sh (MNHN); off Saloum, 50 m 5 sh (MNHN). Ivory Cost. Unknown locality, plateau contin- ental [no further data], 38 sh (MNHN). Angola. Corimba, Luanda, 10-20 m 15 sh (MNHN). Description. Shell very small for the genus, height 3. 4-3. 6 mm, width 1.3-1. 5 mm, biconical, turriculate elongate, solid. Protoconch multispiral, dome shaped, of 2. 8-2. 9 convex whorls. Proto- conch-I (embryonic shell) of 0.7-0. 8 whorls, sep- arated by a demarcation from protoconch-II (larval shell). First 1.6-1. 7 apical whorls apparently smooth, covered with microgranules, the remaining with reticulated sculpture of 4 granulose spirals (3 major, 1 smaller subsutural), crossed by oblique axial riblets. Maximum diameter of protoconch 710-720 pm. Protoconch-teleoconch transition not well marked. Teleoconch of 2.5-3 whorls, rounded, sutural ramp convex, whorl sides gently convex. Last whorl about 3/5 of shell length. Axial sculpture of 10-11 prominent, flexuous and narrowly rounded axial ribs, regularly spaced, with broader interspaces. Spiral sculpture of 2 major granulose cords, with 25-36 irregularly alternating smaller granulose cordlets and interspaces of variable size. Each cordlet actually consisting of a rows of densely packed rounded granules. Aperture narrow, ovate, about 2/5 of the shell height. Siphonal canal moderately long, broad and open, deviating on the left. Inner lip with a moderately developed parietal callus. Outer lip not varicose. Anal sinus marked, arcuate on shoulder slope. Colour yellowish- brownish with two dark brown bands, one subsu- tural and the second on the middle of the last whorl; parietal callus brownish with siphonal canal white. Distribution. Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Angola (Fig. 1). Remarks. Present records represent a remark- able range extension for the species, which was so far known only from the type locality (Senegal). It is here first recorded for Western Sahara, Maurit- ania, Ivory Coast and Angola. Sorgenfreispira br achy stoma (Philippi, 1844) comb. nov. (Figs. 14-17) Pleurotoma brachystomum Philippi, 1844: 169, 176, pi. XXVI, Fig. 10 Type locality. P. brachystomum , Naples, Central Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy. Type material. Type ma- terial of Pleurotoma brachystomum is probably housed in the National Museum of Natural History (Santiago del Chile). Examined material. Recent. [Atlantic] France: Gulf of Gascogne, CAPBRETON 88 sta. DE-01, 43°39.99’N 1°48.11’W, -134 m, 25 sh (MNHN); idem, sta. DR-29, 43°46.51’N 2°00.58’W, -165 m, 3 sh (MNHN); idem, DR-11, 43°22.77’N 1°59.18’W, -94 m, 16 sh (MNHN); idem, sta. DE- 05, 43°57.42’N 2°05.16’W, -164 m, 8 sh (MNHN); Arcachon, [no further data], 3 sh (MNHN), 9 sh (Locard coll., MNHN); Brest, [no further data] 5 sh (Locard coll., MNHN); Capbreton, [no further data], 3 sh (Locard coll., MNHN). Morocco. Agadir, R/V Vanneau 1923-1929 sta. 10, 29°54’N 9°58’W, -110 m, 16 sh (MNHN); idem, sta. 32, 34°01’N 7°32’W, -145 m, 3 sh (MNHN); idem, sta. 101, 30°39’N 10°03’W, 129 m, 3 sh (MNHN); sta. 39, 33°44’N 7°45’W, -85 m 1 sh (MNHN); idem, sta. 9, 30°05’N 09°50’W, -110 m 2 sh (MNHN); idem, sta. 30, 33°55’N 7°34’W, - 75 m 17 sh (MNHN); Tangier, 5-10 m, 1 sh (MNHN). Mauritanie - R/V N.Diago sta. 239, 17°48’N 16°2UW, -79 m,. 1 lv (MNHN); Mission Gravel 25.03.08 sac 406, 13 sh (MNHN). Sweden, [no further data], 1 sh (coll. Jousseaume, MNHN). England, [no further data], 3 sh (coll Jousseaume, MNHN). [Mediterranean] France. Gulf of Lion, IFREMER/ DEPRO 96 (R/V Europe) sta. chalut-10, 42°24.6’N 3°16.2’E, -100/151 m, 40 sh (MNHN); idem, sta. chalut- 1 1 , 42°09.4’N 3°22.5’E, -350 m, 5 sh (MNHN). Cap Bear, ECOMARGE 1984 sta. A61, 42°29.30’N 3°10.30’E, -42 m, 5 sh (MNHN); off Rhone delta, -50/100 m, 2 sh (MNHN). St Raphael, On the systematics and new records of East Atlantic species of the genus Sorgenfreispira (Gastropoda Mangeliidae) 435 Figures 2, 3. Sorgenfreispira africana. 6 x 1.7 mm, Corimba, Luanda, Angola, West Africa, 10-20 m (MNHN). Figures 4, 5. S. africana. 5.7 x 1.9 mm, Corimba, Luanda, Angola, West Africa, 10-20 m (MNHN). Figures 6, 7. S. ardovinii. 4.6 x 1.7 mm, Corimba, Luanda, Angola, West Africa, 20 m (MNHN). Figures 8, 9. S. ardovinii. 5.5 x 1.6 mm, Corimba, Luanda, Angola, West Africa, 20 m (MNHN). Figures 10, 11. S. exilis. 4.4 x 1.3 mm, Corimba, Luanda, Angola, West Africa, 10-20 m (MNHN). Figures 12, 13. S. exilis. 4.5 x 1.4 mm, Corimba, Luanda, Angola, West Africa, 10-20 m (MNHN). 436 Paolo Mariottini etalii Scnckfiiberg-Mus 332619 1 2 . Franfcfurt/M Fehria taprurensis (PalJary 1904) syntype* Bela brae hystoma apicalis F. Nordsieck I <57 7 Tunesien: Sfax Slg, F. Nordsieck cx SMF Figure 14. Drawing of “Bela brachystoma brachy stoma” by Nordsieck (1977: pi. XI, fig. 85). Figs. 15-17. Sorgenfreispira brachystoma. 5.2 x 1.8 mm, San Vincenzo, Leghorn, Italy, 43°05’N 10°24'E, 34 m (CS-PM) (Fig. 17 SEM photograph). Fig. 18. Drawing of B. brachystoma apicalis by Nordsieck ( 1 977: pi. XI, fig. 86). Figs. 19-21.5. brachystoma apicalis. Syntype A, SMF33269/2. 5.2 x 1.9 mm, Sfax, Tunisia, 34°47’N 10°53’E, 15 m (SMF) (Fig. 21 SEM photograph). Figs. 22, 23. Details of the protoconch of Syntype A, SMF33269/2, SEM photographs. Figs. 24, 25. B. brachystoma apicalis. Syntype B, SMF33269/2. 5.2 x 1.9 mm, Sfax, Tunisia, 34°47’N 10°53’E, 15 m (SMF). Fig. 26. SMF label of B. brachystoma apicalis syntypes. On the systematics and new records of East Atlantic species of the genus Sorgenfreispira (Gastropoda Mangeliidae) 437 Figures 27, 28. Ginannia taprurensis. Lectotype (MNHN-IM-2000-32699), 7.3 mm, Sfax, Tunisia (MNHN). Figures 29, 30. G. taprurensis. 6.6 x 2.2 mm, Sfax, Tunisia (MCZR). Figures 31, 32. G. taprurensis. 6.6 x 2.3 mm, Sfax, Tunisia (MCZR). Figures 33, 34. G. taprurensis. 6.1 x 2.3 mm, A1 Khums, Libya, 15 m (CS-PM). [no further data], 3 sh (Couturier coll., MNHN), 4 sh (Locard coll., MNHN). Marseille, [no further data], 5 sh (Locard coll., MNHN). Spain. Estepona, 36°25’N 5°09’W, -150 m, 2 sh (SR); Baleares, [no further data], 1 sh (MNHN); Alboran, BALGIM sta. 143, 35 0 57’N 3°07’W, -252 m 1 sh (MNHN); Malaga, beach nourishment [from -20/40 m] 1 sh (MNHN). Italy. Off San Vincenzo, 43°05’N 10°24’E, -34 m, 78 sh (CS-PM); off S. Marinella, -150/200 m, sediment in an old Roman dolium, 41°54.00’N, 011°47.66’E, 1 sh (MO); off Fiumicino, 41°43’N 12°06’W, -80 m, 38 sh (CS-PM); off Fiumicino, 41°38’N 12°11’W, -140 m, 27 sh (CS-PM); off Fiumicino, [no further data] (in the gut content of Astropecten irregularis ), 16 juveniles (MO); 5 nm South of Fiumicino, -25 m (in mud), 2 lv (MO); Tor Patemo shoal, -150 m, 5 lv, lsh (MO); Ponza Is., 40°51’N 12°55’W, -40 m, 24 sh (CS-PM); off Civitanova Marche, 43°18’N 13°46’E, -45 m, 11 sh (CS-PM); off Pescara, 42°31’N 14 0 12’E, -50 m, 24 sh (CS-PM); Sicily, [no further data], 2 sh (coll. Letellier, MNHN). Croatia. Brae Island, 43°24’N 16°30’E, -50 m, 5 sh (CS-PM). Libya. Unknown locality, -110/150 m, 19 sh (CS-PM). Fossil. Italy: Guidonia, 42°00’N 12°43’E (Pliocene), 2 sh (CS-PM); Gallina, 38°05’N 15°41’E (Pliocene), 3 sh (CS-PM); Ficarazzi, 38°04 , N 13°29’E (Upper Pliocene-Lower Pleisto- cene), 125 sh labelled "P. granuliferum var. parva" (coll. Monterosato, ex coll. Brugnone, MCZR); Monte Pellegrino, 38°04’N 13°29’E (Upper Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene), 48 sh labelled "var. striiselevatioribus" (coll. Monterosato, ex coll. Brugnone, MCZR). Description. Shell small for the genus, height 4.5-7 mm, width 1.7-2. 5 mm, biconical, turricu- late elongate, solid. Protoconch multispiral, dome shaped, of 2. 3-2. 4 convex whorls. First 1.6-1. 9 apical whorls smooth, the remaining with reticu- 438 Paolo Mariottini etalii lated sculpture of 4-5 granulose spirals (3 major spirals in the middle of whorl, 1 smaller subsutural and 1 smaller above the teleoconch suture) crossed by oblique axial riblets. Maximum diameter of protoconch 510-650 pm. Protoconch-teleoconch transition not well marked. Teleoconch of 5-6 whorls, rounded, sutural ramp straight or very slightly convex, whorl sides gently convex. Last whorl about 2/5 of shell length. Axial sculpture of 8-9 prominent, slightly opisthocline, flexuous and narrowly rounded axial ribs, regularly spaced, with broader interspaces. Spiral sculpture of 9-15 major cordlets, with irregularly alternating smaller cordlets and interspaces of variable size. Each cordlet consists of a rows of densely packed roun- ded granules. Aperture narrow, ovate, about 1/3 of the shell height. Siphonal canal short, narrow and open, deviating on the left. Inner lip with a mod- erately developed parietal callus. Outer lip varicose. Anal sinus marked, arcuate on shoulder slope. Animal with short head and two short tentacles. Black eyes on the external, thickened basal part of the tentacles, located on the distal third of their total height. Foot broad and long, slightly lobate anteriorly, tapering posteriorly. Background colour of the head-foot pinkish, semi-transparent, with light yellow spots, and light yellow speckles on the proximal part of the tentacles. Siphon pinkish, semi-transparent, with light yellow spots bordered by orange. Distribution. Sorgenfreispira brachystoma is known from the northeastern Atlantic and from the entire Mediterranean Sea. Based on literature data and on the material we have examined, it ranges from Norway (Hoisseter, 2009), Sweden (Dyntaxa, 2013), United Kingdom and British Isles (Hayward & Ryland, 1990), to southern Morocco (Lat 34° N), and the entire Mediterranean Sea. Fossil shells are known from several Plio-Pleistocene European outcrops (England, France, Spain, Italy: see Chirli & Richard, 2008). Remarks. Sorgenfreispira brachystoma is a continental shelf species, easily distinguishable from all other members of the group by its very distinct shell sculpture (Mariottini et al., 2008). It has a multispiral protoconch with characteristic densely granulated spiral ribs. Bela brachystoma apicalis Nordsieck, 1977 is a synonym of B. taprurensis (Pallary, 1904) (see below). Bela Gray, 1847: 270 Type species: Murex nebula Montagu, 1803, by subsequent designation (Gray, 1847). =Fehria van Aartsen, 1988 (type species: Ginnania taprurensis Pallary, 1904, by original designa- tion) Bela taprurensis (Pallary, 1904) (Figs. 18-46) Ginnania taprurensis Pallary, 1904: 218, pi. VII, Fig. 1 Bela brachystoma apicalis Nordsieck, 1977: 44, pi. 11, Fig. 86 Type locality. Ginnania taprurensis Pallary: Sfax, Tunisia, Mediterranean Sea. Bela brachystoma apicalis Nordsieck: Sfax, Tunisia, Mediterranean Sea. Type material. Ginnania taprurensis Pallary: Lectotype (MNHN-IM-2000-3269). Bela brachystoma apicalis Nordsieck: 2 syntypes (SMF33269/2) Examined material. The type material and: Tunisia: Sfax, 34°47’N 10°53’E, 15 m, 25 sh (CS-PM), 2 sh (coll. Monterosato, MCZR). Libya: Al Khums, 32°43’N 14°18’E, 15 m, 4 sh (CS-PM). Distribution. Southern Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Gabes (Pallary, 1 904) and Libya; Aegean Sea (Manousis, 2012: 169) and Levant Sea (Bogi et al., 1989). Remarks. Nordsieck (1977: 45, pi. XII, fig. 90) redescribed Ginnania taprurensis Pallary and depicted a shell from Karpathos (Greece). Proto- conch (2 convex whorls, rather blunt) and teleo- conch description match the species as represented by the lectotype (Figs. 27, 28) and the two specimens in coll. Monterosato, presumably ex Pallary (Figs. 29-32). Nordsieck (1977) also described B. brachystoma apicalis, differing from the nominal species mainly for its paucispiral “protoconch [of] 11/2 very inflated whorls, which leads to the conclusion of a quite other life of larves” (Nordsieck, 1977: 44, pi. 11, Fig. 86). The examination of two syntypes (Figs. 19-23) of B. brachystoma apicalis revealed that this taxon was actually based on shells of B. taprurensis (Pallary, 1904) (Figs. 27-46). Present sample from Libya (Figs. 33, 34) is the first record for the waters of that country. On the systematics and new records of East Atlantic species of the genus Sorgenfreispira (Gastropoda Mangeliidae) 439 Figures 35-38. Bela taprurensis. 4.8 x 1.8 mm, Sfax, Tunisia, 34°47’N 10°53’E, 15 m (CS-PM) (Figs. 37, 38 SEM photographs). Figures 39-46. Details of the shell of figs. 35-38 (SEM photographs). 440 Paolo Mariottini etalii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to express our gratitude to Vir- ginie Heros and Philippe Maestrati (MNHN), Ronald Janssen (SMF) and Massimo Appolloni (MCZR) for the help in the study of the materials under their care, and Cesare Tabanelli with Cesare Bogi for the bibliographic assistance. REFERENCES Ardovini R., 2004. Due nuove specie e una nuova sotto- specie di Turridae dal Senegal, West Africa. Malaco- logia, 43: 7-9. Ardovini R., 2008. Bela africana n. sp. (Gastropoda Turridae) West Africa, Senegal. Malacologia, 58: 12- 13. Bogi C., Cianfanelli S. & Talenti E., 1989. Contributo alia conoscenza della malacofauna dell'isola di Cipro. Atti prima giornata Studi Malacologici C.I.S.Ma., 187-214. Chirli C. & Richard C., 2008. Les mollusques plaisan- ciens de la Cote d’Azur. Devaye Imprimeurs, Z.I. la Frayere, Cannes, 128 pp. Dyntaxa, 2013. Swedish Taxonomic Database. Ac- cessed at www.dyntaxa.se [5-02-2015], at http://www. dyntaxa.se Gray J.E. 1847. A list of the genera of recent Mollusca, their synonymia and types. Proceedings of the Zo- ological Society of London, 15, 129-206. Hayward P.J. & Ryland J.S. (Eds.), 1990. The marine fauna of the British Isles and North-West Europe: 1. Introduction and protozoans to arthropods. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 627 pp. Hoisaster T., 2009. Distribution of marine, benthic, shell bearing gastropods along the Norwegian coast. Fauna norvegica, 28: 5-106. Manousis T., 2012. The seashells of Greece. Publishing House Kyriakidis Brothers S.A., Thessaloniki, 381 pp. Mariottini P., Di Giulio A., Smriglio C. & Oliverio M., 2008. Notes on the Bela brachystoma complex, with description of a new species (Mollusca, Gastropoda: Conidae). Aldrovandia, 4: 3-20. Mariottini P., Smriglio C., Di Giulio A. & Oliverio M., 2009. A new fossil conoidean from the pliocene of italy, with comments on the Bela menkhorsti complex (Gastropoda; Conidae). Journal of Conchology, 40: 5-14. Moroni M.A., 1979. Sorgenfreispira , nuovo genere di Turridae (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia) del Miocene europeo. Lavori dell’Istituto di Geologia della Universita di Palermo, 16: 1-11. Nordsieck F., 1977. The Turridae of the European Seas. La Conchiglia Ed., Roma, 131 pp. Pallary P., 1904. Addition a la faune malacologique du Golfe de Gabes. Journal de Conchyliologie, 52: 2 12— 248, pi. 7. Scarponi D., Landau B., Janssen R., Morgenroth H. & Della Bella G., 2014. Lectotype designation for Murex nebula Montagu 1803 (Mangeliidae) and its implications for Bela Leach in Gray 1847. Zootaxa, 3884: 045-054 Sorgenfrei Th., 1958. Molluscan assemblages from the marine Middle Miocene of South Jutland and their environments. Danmarks Geologiske Undersogelse, Series 2, 79: vol. 1 1-355, text figs. 1-7; vol. 2 356— 503, pis. 1-76. Kobenhaven. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 441-448 Monograph Description of a new species of the genus Trophonopsis Bucquoy et Dautzenberg, 1 882 (Gastropoda Muricidae Pagodulinae) from the Mediterranean Sea Carlo Smriglio*, Paolo Mariottini & Andrea Di Giulio 1 D ip artim e n to di Scienze, Universita di “Roma Tre”, Viale Marconi 446. 00146 Rome. Italy; e-mail: csmriglio@alice.it; paolo. mariottini@ uniroma3.it; andrea.digiulio@ unirom a3.it Corresponding author ABSTRACT Based on shell characters, a new species of the gastropod family Muricidae, Trophonopsis spciracioi n. sp., from Mediterranean Sea is described. Shells of the new taxon were collected from bathyal bottoms, in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The new taxon is compared with others species of the genus Trophonopsis Bucquoy et Dautzenberg, 1882, occurring in northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. KEYWORDS Trophonopsis spciracioi n . sp.; M uricidae; Pagodulinae; M editerranean Sea. Received 17.0 9.2014; accepted 12.03.2 0 15; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the Eighth Malacological Pontine Meeting, October 4th- 5th, 2014 - San Felice Circeo, Italy INTRODUCTION The genus Trophonopsis B u c q u o y et Dautzen- berg, 1 8 82 has been traditionally included in the subfamily Trophoninae (Muricidae), while recently Barco et al. (2012) have included this genus in their newly erected subfamily Pagodulinae, based on clear evidence from the radular morphology. Five Recent species of the genus TrophoYlopsis were so far recognised in northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea according to Houart(2001) and CLEMAM (G o fas & Le Renard, 2014): T. alboran- ensis (Smriglio e al., 1 997) (Figs. 1-5, 39, 40), T. barvicensis (Johnston, 1825) (Figs. 6-10, 41, 42), T. breviatus ( J e ffre y s , 1882 ) (Figs. 11-15,43,44), T. droueti (Dautzenberg, 1 8 8 9 ) and T. muricatUS (Montagu, 1803) (Figs. 16-20, 45, 46). These taxa have been reviewed by H o u a r t (2001), who con- sidered T. alboranensis in the original genus Houartiella S m rig lio , M ario ttin i et B o n fitto , 1 9 9 7, later synonym ized with Trophonopsis by Penas et. al. (2006). In particular, two Trophonopsis species have an Atlantic distribution, being T. droueti endemic to the bathyal bottoms of the Azores (Bouchet & Waren, 1 985; Houart, 2001 ), while T. barvicensis , which occurs at 50-1.000 m depth, is distributed from Morocco and the Azores, to the British Isles and West Scandinavia (Houart, 200 1; Segers et al., 2009 ). Trophonopsis barvicensis w a s recently reported in the Mediterranean Sea from El Garraf (Spain), as a W iirmian fossil, by Giribet & Penas (1997) and from the Djibuti bank (Spain), which could represent the extreme limit of its distribution into the M editerranean, by Gofas et al. ( 2011 ). Furthermore, T. alboranensis and T. brevi- atUS are endemic to A lb ora n and Black Sea, respect- ively (Smriglio et al., 1997; Houart, 2001; Gofas et al., 20 11). Trophonopsis breviatus has been also re- corded from (Tanakkale and Bozcaada Isle, Turkey (Panayotis O valis, pers. comm.). Only T. muricatUS 442 Carlo Smriglio etalii displays both a wide distribution, occurring in the Mediterranean and in the northeastern Atlantic up to the northern Great Britain, and a wide batimetric range (0.5-300 m) (Rolan, 1983; Houart, 2001; Gofas et al., 2011). Recently, we had the chance to examine shells of Trophonopsis from a spot located in the Tyrrhe- nian Sea, inhabited by rich bathyal benthic inver- tebrate communities (molluscan assemblages have been partially characterized in the past by Smriglio et al., 1 989; Smriglio & Mariottini, 1 996, 2000, 200 1; Smriglio et al., 1 999). After morphological comparison with the species of Trophonopsis occurring in northeastern Atlantic and Mediter- ranean, the studied shells have been regarded as belonging to a distinct, unnamed species, which is here described as new to science: Trophonopsis sparacioi n. sp. ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS. The materials used for this study are deposited in the following private and Museum collections, BA: Bruno Arnati collection, Rome, Italy; CS-PM : Carlo Smriglio-Paolo Mariottini collection, Rome, Italy; H: height; MO: Marco Oliverio collection, Rome, Italy; MTC: Monterosato collection; MCZR: Museum of Zoology of Rome (section collections of Malacology); MNHN: Museum National d’Histoire N aturelle, Paris, France; M ZB : M useum of Zoology Bologna (collection of the Laboratory of Malacology, University of Bologna, Italy); sh: empty shell(s); W : width. MATERIAL AND METHODS Samples consisted mainly of empty shells, in a few cases with dried softparts, from CS-PM private collection and material stored in the MTC at the MCZR. Sediment sampling was collected by fishermen trawlers from m u d d y - b a th y a 1 bottoms located off the coasts of Latiurn (C entral Tyrrhenian Sea). Sedi- ment samples were sieved through a 1 mm mesh and sorted under a s te r e o m ic r o s c o p e . Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observations were car- ried out by a Philips XL30 at the Interdepartmental Laboratory of Elec tr on Microscopy (LIM E, U niver- sity of “Roma Tre”, Rome, Italy). Current system a- tics is based on WoRMS (2013), that for Trophonopsis species treated in this work is in accordance with CLEMAM (Gofas & Le Renard, 2014). Sculpture of the teleoconch was described according to the notation ofMerle (2001, 2005). SYSTEMATICS Family MURICIDEA Rafinesque, 1815 Subfamily Pagodulinae B arc o , Schiaparelli, Houart et O liv erio ,2012 type genus Pogodlilci Monterosato, 1 884 (by ori- ginal designation) Genus Trophonopsis Bucquoy, Dautzenberg et D ollfus, 1882 type species Mlirex nturicCltllS M on tag u, 1 8 03 (by original designation) Trophonopsis sparacioi n . s p . Examined material. The type material (Figs. 21- 33, 47, 48) consists of 100 shells, 27 of them with dry soft parts, from the Central Tyrrhenian Sea, off coasts of Latium, 500/600 m (4 1 °5 1 ’ N 1 1 ° 2 8 ’ E ) . Holotype, MNHN IM-2000-27897; paratype 1, MNHN IM -2000-27898; paratypes 2, MZB 60093 and 3, M ZB60094; paratypes 4, M CZR00222a and 5, M CZR00222b; paratypes 6 and 7, M O ; par a types 8 and 9,BA;paratypes 10-99, CS-PM. Other examined material. Trophonopsis Cllbor- ancnsis: from CS-PM collection (Rom e): paratypes “A-B-D” and 13 sh,Alboran Sea (type locality), 80- 150 m; 1 sh,Alboran Island, 180 m. Trophonopsis barvicensis-. from MTC collec- tion: 2 sh, Bergen, Norway; 2 sh, Oban, Scotland, 25 fathoms; 4 sh. She tl and , England; 3 sh, England; 42 sh,NorthAtlantic Ocean, 226 m;60 sh. Paler mo, Italy. From CS-PM collection (Rome): 4 sh, Aber- deen Bank (57°13’N 0 1 ° 0 5 ’ W ) , Scotland, 59-68 m. Trophonopsis breviatus-. f r o m cs-pm collection (Rome): 2 sh Bozcaada Island, Turkey 85 m; 4 sh from Marmara Island, Marmara Sea. Trophonopsis muricatUS: from MTC collection: 2 sh, Northumberland coast, Scotland; 5 sh, England; 10 sh,Le Croisic (Saint-Naza ire), France; 4 sh, Villefranche sur M er (Nige), France; 2 sh, Minorca, Baleares, Spain; 3 sh, Corsica; 4 sh, Sardinia, Italy; 4 sh, Positano (Naples), Italy; 3 sh, Golfo di Napoli, Italy; 1 sh, Naples, Italy; 192 sh, Palermo, Italy 1 sh, Algeria; 15 sh, Ficarazzi Description of a new species of the genus Trophonopsis (Gastropoda Muricidae) from the Mediterranean Sea 443 (Palermo), Italy, fossil; 3 sh, Ficarazzi (Palermo), Italy, fossil; 3 sh, Giannettilla (C altanissetta), Italy; 3 sh,Babbaurra(Caltanissetta),Italy; 1 sh,Magnisi (Siracusa), Italy; 3 sh, Sciacca (Agrigento), Italy; 1 sh, Morocco. From CS-PM collection (Rome): 3 sh, Algeciras, Spain, 20-35 m; 4 sh, Capo Corso, Corsica, France, 70 m; 8 sh, Capraia Island (Leghorn), Italy, 80-200 m ; 1 sh, Capraia Island (Leghorn), Italy, 400 m; 14 sh, Elba Island, Tuscany, Italy, 300 m ; 3 sh, Elba Island (Leghorn), Italy, 50 m; 2 sh, Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy, 40 m; 3 sh,Fiumicino (Rome), Italy, 160 m; 8 sh,Circeo (Latina), Italy, 90 m; 108 sh, Ponza Island (Latina), Italy, 125-165 m; 1 sh, C apo Portiere (La tina), Italy, unspecified depth; 3 sh, Golf of Carini (Palermo), Italy, 120 m ; 48 sh, 60 miles offshore Sfax, Tunisia, 100 m; 11 sh, Libyan coasts, 110-150 m . Pagodula echinata (Kiener, 1 8 4 0 ) : from CS- PM collection (Rome): about 600 sh, offshore Fiumicino (Rome), Central Tyrrhenian Sea (4 1 °5 1 ’N 1 1 °2 8 ’E), Italy, 5 00-600 m . Description of the holotype. Shell of small size forthe genus, H = 5.6, W = 2.9 mm, fusiform, elong- ate, with high spire and siphonal canal open and moderately long, last whorl about three quarter of entire shell length. Protoconch paucispiral, with a diameter of 5 80 pm and 1.5 rounded whorls, orna- mented with narrow, irregular spiral threads. Teleo- conch with 3.5 whorls, axial sculpture consisting of 11 lamellate ribs, slightly spiny at the shoulder. Infrasutural ramp without cords (cords 1 and 2 absent), convex part of the last w horl w ith 6 prim ary cords (cords 3-8).Aperture small, ovate with a thin, knife-edge outer lip, to some extent undulate. Columellar lip narrow, smooth and adherent. Siphonal canal narrow, with evident growth ridges. Shell uniformly white or g re y is h - w h ite , vitreous. Operculum corneous, ovoid, planispiral with lateral nucleus. Variability. Shell height ranging from 5.8 to 6.3 mm with an average of 6.10 mm (50 sh measured), while the width is ranging from 2.9 to 3.1 mm (50 sh measured), with an average of 2.95 mm. Proto- conch diameter from 550 to 650 pm, with an average of 589 mm (11 sh measured by SEM analyses). Teleoconch always comprising 3.5 whorls, which can be considered as a diagnostic character, and 6 (rarely 7) primary cords in the convex part of the last whorl. Number of lamellate ribs of the axial sculpture ranging from 1 1 to 14, with an average of 12.24. Etimology. This species is dedicated to Ignazio Sparacio (Paler mo, Italy), for his great contribution to scientific research and his editorial work for the biodiversity of the Mediterranean region. Distribution and biology. Locus typicus: Central Tyrrhenian Sea off the coasts of Latiurn (4 1 0 5 1 ’ N 11°28’E). Habitat: Biocoenosis CB (sensu Peres & Picard, 1964), 360-600 m depth. Remarks. All shells of T. spcircidoi n. sp. (Figs. 21-33, 47, 48), some of them with soft parts, were sorted out from sediment samples collected at bathyal depths. In particular, empty shells from muddy bottoms (biocoenosis VB, sensu Peres & Picard, 1 964), while shells with soft parts from deep-sea coral banks (biocoenosis CB, sensu Peres & Picard, 1 964). The benthic communities of this Tyrrhenian Sea area have been investigated since the late eighties, and have been partly characterized (Smriglio etal., 1989; Smriglio & Mariottini, 1996, 2000, 200 1; Smriglio et al., 1999). The analysis of the accompanying dredged organogenic sediment revealed many fragments of alive a zo o x an te Hate corals like DeSlflOphyllum cristagalli Milne Edwards etHaime, 1848 and MadvcpOVCl OCUlatO. (Linne, 1 758), indicating that this species belongs to the biocoenosis CB. Furthermore, together with the empty shells of the new taxon, we collected another abundant pagoduline, Pdgodulci echinata (Kiener, 1 840) (Figs. 34-38, 49, 50), which typic- ally inhabits c ir c alitto r a 1/b a th y a 1 muddy bottoms (Smriglio et al., 1 989; Houart, 200 1; Gofas et al., 2011 ). For P. echinata , it is interesting to recall that the fossil P. Vaginata (De Cristofori et Ian, 1 832) differs by presenting “a distinct difference in the larval shell, which in the recent form consist of about 1.5 whorls while the Pliocene form has more than 2.5 whorls, and possibly planktotrophic larval development” (Bouchet & Waren, 1985 p. 138). Moreover, La Perna (1996) remarked “at that time, the two species lived in ecologically segregated populations, P. Vaginata b ein g linked to deep-shelf and upper- slope bottoms, and P. echinata to deeper bathyal bottom s”. Possibly, this difference in habitat has enabled P. echinata to be protected during the Quaternary climatic cooling, which instead caused 444 Carlo Smriglio etalii Figures 1-5. Twphonopsis ulboVUVLCnsis . ParatypeD,Fl 4.7 xW 2.8 mm. Alboran Sea, 80-150 m depth. CS-PM. Figures 6-10. T. barvicensis. H 7. 4 x W 3.7 mm. Aberdeen Bank, E. Scotland, 59-68 m depth, 57°13'N-01°05'W. CS-PM. Figures 11, 12. T. bvevitttUS . H 7.6 x W 4.2 mm. Marmara Island, Marmara Sea. CS-PM. Figuresl3-15. T. bvevicitUS. H 9.5 x W 5.2 mm. Bozcaada Island, Turkey, 85 m depth. CS-PM. Figures 16-20. T. niUVicdtUS . H 7.6 x W. 3.7 mm. Circeo, Italy, 90 m depth. CS-PM . Description of a new species of the genus Trophonopsis (Gastropoda Muricidae) from the Mediterranean Sea 445 Figures 2 1- 25. Tvophoviopsis Spavadoi n. sp. Paratype 10, H 6.2 x W 3.3 mm. Central Tyrrhenian Sea. CS-PM. Figures 26, 2 7.7] Spavadoi n. sp. Paratype 2, FI 5.8 x W 2.9 mm. Central Ty rrh en ian Sea. MZB60093. Figures 28, 29. T. Spavadoi n . sp . Holotype,H 5.6 x W 2.9 mm. Central Tyrrhenian Sea. MNHN IM-2000-27897.Figures30,31.7] Spavadoi n . sp. Paratype 4, H4.5xW 2.9 mm.Cen tral Ty rrh en ian Sea. M CZR00222a. Figures 32, 33. T. Spavadoi n . sp. Paratype 11, FI 6.1 xW 2.8 mm. CentralTyrrhenian Sea. CS-PM . Figures 34-38. Pagodllla Cchifiata. FI 10.7 x W 5.4 m m ; C entral Tyrrhenian Sea. CS-PM . 446 Carlo Smriglio etalii Figures 39, 40. T. alboranensis . Same as Fig. 1. Figures 41, 42. T. barvicensis. S ame as Fig. 6. Figures 43, 44. T. breviatus. Same as Fig. 11. Figures 45, 46. T. YYlUriCdtUS . Same as Fig. 16. Figures 47, 48. T. SpUYUCioi n . sp . Same as Fig. 34. Figures 49, 50. Pagodllla echinata. S ame as Fig. 11. the extinction of P. VClginCltd. We think that P. Vd~ gillCltCl represents the sister species of P. echinCltd. that has lost the planktotrophic larval stage showing a different successful adaptive strategy, as described for other Recent couples of sibling species (Pusateri et al., 2012; Pusateri et al., 2013). Trophonopsis sparacioi n. sp. clearly differs from all other Trophonopsis occurring in Northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea mainly for its small size and shell sculpture. Only T. dlbOYCinensis has s i m i 1 a r Description of a new species of the genus Trophonopsis (Gastropoda Muricidae) from the Mediterranean Sea 447 dimensions, but this species shows a totally dif- ferent shell sculpture consisting of nodulose axial ribs with a higher number of spiral cords (compare Figs. 1-5 and 39, 40 to Figs. 21-25 and 47, 48) (Smriglio et al., 1997; Houart, 200 1; Gofas et al., 2011 ). Trophonopsis barvicensis possesses both protoconch and teleoconch of bigger size and its shell sculpture shows less axial ribs and spiral cords, also less spiny at intersections (compare Figs. 6-10 and 41, 42 to Figs. 21-25 and 47, 48). Trophonopsis sparacioi n . sp. clearly differs from T. breviatus in many respects, the latter having a more convex shell outline, being less sculptured, and having a bigger protoconch (compare Figs. 11-15 and 43, 44 to Figs. 21-25 and 47, 48). Trophonopsis muricatus is bigger in size, shows a more convex shell outline, a more reticulated sculpture, less spiny at the intersections, and a longer siphonal canal. The protoconch of this species is similar in size, but shows less spiral threads, coarser in the last part of the whorl (compare Figs. 16-20 and 45, 46 to Figs 21-25 and 47,48). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to express our gratitude to Massimo Appolloni (MCZR) for the examination of the Pagodulinae material stored in the MTC. Sincere acknowledgments are due to Marco Oliv- erio (University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy) and RafaelLa Perna (University ofBari, Bari, Italy) for their critical suggestions. We would like to thank the reviewers for their helpful comments and the resulting improvements in the paper. REFERENCES Barco A, Schiaparelli S., Houart R. & Oliverio M . 2012. Cenozoic evolution of Muricidae (Mollusca, Neo- gastropoda) in the Southern Ocean, with the de- scription of a new subfamily. Zoologica Scripta 41: 596-6 16. Bouchet P. & W are n A., 1985. Revision of the Northeast Atlantic bathyal and abyssal N e o g a s tro p o d a exclud- ing Turridae (Mollusca, Gastropoda). Bollettino M alacologico, Supplemento 1: 1 23-296 pp. Giribet G . & Penas A., 1997. M alacological marine fauna from Garraf coast (NE Iberian Peninsula). Iberus, 15: 41-93. Gofas S. & Le Renard J., 2014. CLEMAM: Check List of European Marine Mollusca. Available at h tip :// w w w .som ali.asso.fr/clem am / index, clem am . h tm 1 . A c c e s se d 2014-oct-01. Gofas S., Moreno D. & Salas C ., 2011. Moluscos m ari- nos de Andalucia - I. Universidad de Malaga, Junta de Andalucia, Consejeria de medio ambiente, 342 pp. Houart R ., 200 1. A review of the Recent Mediterranean and Northeastern Atlantic Species of Muricidae. Evolver. Roma, 227 pp. La Perna R., 1 996. Phyletic relationships and ecological implications between P dgoduld VdgUldtd (De Cristo- fori & Jan, 1 83 2) and Pcigodlllci ecilUldtd (Kiener. 1840) (Gastropoda, M uricidae). Bollettino della Societa Paleontologica Italiana, 35: 8 1 -92. Merle D., 2001. The spiral cords and the internal denticles of the outer lip in the Muricidae: termin- ology and methodological comments. Novapex, 2: 69-91. M erle D ., 2005. 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Descrip- tion of Houartiella n. gen., Trophoninae Cossmann, 1 903, and Houartiella alboranensis n. sp. from the Mediterranean Sea. Bollettino Malacologico, 32: 27-34. Smriglio C ., Mariottini P. & Calascibetta S., 1999. De- scription of a new species of Conidae Fleming, 1822 from the Mediterranean Sea: CoilOplcUTQ, ttlidltt n. sp. Bollettino Malacologico, 34: 27-32. Smriglio C., Mariottini P. & Gravina F., 1989. Molluschi del M ar Tirreno Centrale: ritrovamento di PutZ6ysicl wiseri (Calcara, 1 842), IschflOChitOfl vanbellei Kaas, 1 9 85 e NeOpililVl zogvafi (D autzenberg & Fischer. 1 896). Contributo VI. Bollettino Malacologico, 25: 125-1 32. WoRMS Editorial Board, 2013. World Register of Marine Species. Available from h ttp ://w w w .m arin e species.org at VLIZ. Accessed 10 September 2014. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 449-466 Monograph The family Cypraeidae (Gastropoda Cypraeoidea) an unex- pected case of neglected animals Marco Passamonti Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche Geologiche e Ambientali (BiGeA), Via Selmi 3, 40126 Bologna, Italy; e-mail: marco. passant onti@ unibo.it ABSTRACT The family Cypraeidae Rafinesque, 1815 (Gastropoda Cypraeoidea), common ly called Cowries, are particularly well-known among shell collectors, because of their beauty and relative availability. W hile most species are common in shallow reef environments, some other are quite hard to find, because they may come from remote or hardly accessible habitats, or they are in fact just rarely found. Because of this rarity and beauty, several cowries get high market values among collectable shells. This relevant economic interest produced two kind of outcomes: a proliferation of taxonomic complexity, and a very detailed knowledge of every variation of a given species, making cowries collection one of the most specialized ones. Notwithstanding this, it is quite remarkable that cowries had attracted very little interest by biologists and professional m alacologists. Few scientific studies are available to date. This review attempts to overview some of the major biological highlights of the Family, to pro mote future researches in this diverse group of gastropods. KEYWORDS Cypraeid ae; Evolution; Biogeography; Speciation. Received 18.02.2015; ac c ep ted 1 4 .0 3 .2 0 1 5 ; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the Eighth Malacological Pontine Meeting, October 4th- 5th, 2014 - San Felice Circeo, Italy INTRODUCTION The family Cypraeidae Rafinesque, 1815, cowries (Gastropoda Cypraeoidea) comprises about 220 species of marine gastropods (but this figure may vary with different taxonomies, see f.i. Moretz- sohn, 2014), widespread along the tropical and sub- tropical seas. Many species are commonly found in tropical shallow water reefs, although others are adapted to temperate waters and/or deep water en- vironments. Most species are herbivorous grazers, but some are carnivorous, being more commonly sponge eaters. The main characteristic of cowries (which is however shared by some other gastropods) is the presence of a retractable mantle that covers the entire shell, when in full extension (Figs. 1-6). This makes the cowrie shell particularly shiny, because, at variance to most gastropods, shell layers are continuously deposited outside the shell itself, rather than in the aperture and inside. The mantle is seldom richly branched, with protrusions known as papillae (Figs. 1, 2, 4-6), that may have both respiratory and mimetic functions. When disturbed, the animal can quickly retract the mantle showing off the brilliant shell. The amazing richness of shell and mollusk colors in cowries (as in many other mollusks as well) has been always an evolutionary puzzle. 450 Marco Passamonti Cowries are not toxic animals, as far as we know, so the brilliant colors of shells and mantles could not be considered as warning signals for predators (apo sem atism ). Sometimes, the mantle, when fully expanded, may camouflage the shell itself (see f.i. the genus Novia Broderip, 1837, with fully branched mantle that m ay resemble algae tufts or coelenterate colonies) (Fig. 7). In some other cases, the mantle is quite thin and almost transparent, so the shell is easily visible below (see f.i. the genus Zoilo Jousseaume, 1884). Cowries are commonly cryptic (i.e. they hide) and nocturnal, and this is of course a clear adaptation to reduce predation. Nevertheless, some species, in their adulthood, graze freely in the open during the day (see f.i. the genera Zoilci, Bo.rycypTQ.eQ. Schilder, 1927; and Cyproea tigris Linnaeus, 1 758). Such cowries tend to have heavy big shells, which is a clear adaptation to avoid predation by fishes and/or crustaceans. Some may also have deltoid shells, with a flat base, another clear adaptation to stick to rocky surfaces (thanks to a foot acting as a sucker) and prevent easy predation [see f.i. Mauri- tia mauritiana (Linnaeus, 1758), Monetaria caput- Serpentis (Linnaeus, 1758), etc.J. Another environmental factor affecting shell structure is sea current and/or waves action. Gener- ally cowries with thick and heavy shells are typical of turbulent waters. This feature is also variable among individuals of the same species, since lightweight shells tend to be more common in calm lagoons or in deeper waters, while heavy calloused shells are more easily found in the open ocean or in high surf w aters. THE UNUSUAL DEVELOPMENT OF A CO- WRIE SHELL The cowrie shell follows a developmental pattern that is quite different from most mollusks. The first shell to be produced is the larval shell of the veliger (Fig. 8). While most species spend their larval time in the plankton, others have a direct intracap sular development (direct developers). Once metamorphosed, the shell keeps growing by adding whorls around its columella (Fig. 9). Even- tually, during this growth, the shell may first re- semble an Olivo shell (Fig. 10; i.e. ‘oliva stage’), or a Bulla (i.e. ‘bulla stage’). In both such stages, the spire is well visible and the shell is very different from the adult one, both for its structure and color. The shell is very thin and all cowries are cryptic at this stage. This is easily interpreted as an adaptation to prevent predation. Although no secure data are available, many personal observations and info obtained from shell divers may point to the fact that cowries get to adulthood very fast, perhaps within few months from birth. At the end of the juvenile stage, cowries undergo a deep change in their shells: the last whorl usually covers the entire shell, so the spire gets included in it, and it eventually bends over the columellar side to tighten the shell aperture (Fig. 1). This tightening is even more pronounced by the deposition of shell teeth, one of the most typical features of cowries (Fig. 12). Cowries have no operculum, so teeth are an alternative strategy to make the aperture as narrow as possible, to prevent access to soft parts when the mollusk is retracted. Soon after teeth formation, the shell stops growing, and it starts thickening by deposition of shell and glaze layers, ending up into the typical thick and glossy shell (Fig. 12). The fact that cowries stop growing at adulthood is quite un- usual among gastropods, which rather tend to have an undetermined growing pattern. Moreover, the growing rate and/or time to adulthood seem to be quite variable, even among the same species, end- ing up with a remarkable variability in adult shell sizes (see f.i. Okon, 2013a, b; 2014). The shell of a cowrie mollusk is therefore quite different from most gastropod shells, as it evolved several unusual characteristics, including a relevant thickness, a very glossy surface, and a very narrow aperture. Moreover, many cowrie shells are brightly colored, making them quite visible to predators. Notwithstanding this, cowries are among the most successful gastropods in coral reefs, and they perform quite well in many other marine environ- ments. As mentioned, some do not even hide at adulthood (see f.i. Fig. 13). In the attempt to understand the peculiar adapt- ations of cowries, we first have to consider that the shell of Cypraeidae is generally thick and very com- pact, hard to brake, with a very narrow aperture, and the mollusk is usually very mucous, which makes the cowrie quite slimy. These joined characteristics are likely a good adaptation against predation. The family Cypraeidae: an unexpected case of neglected animals 45 1 because the thickness of the shell, the absence of possible holds, the slimy surface, and the relative unreachability of soft parts, may discourage most predators. In fact, such characteristics make preda- tion by small fishes and crabs very difficult. Actually, cowries are often wholly swallowed by big fishes, since they cannot easily crack them, although it sometimes happens with strongly beaked fishes. Another important source of preda- tion are octopuses, that drill the cowrie shell and Figures 1-6. Examples of man ties and papillae in Cypraeidae (all from Hawaii). Fig. 1. Lyncind Cdmeold pVOpUlCjUQ. (G arrett, 1 879); Fig. 2. Tdlpciria talpa (Linnaeus, 1758); Fig. 3. Lurid tessellata (S w ainson, 1 822); Fig. 4. Lyncind fyriX (Linnaeus, 1 758); Fig. 5. Ndrid pOTdvid (Linnaeus, 1 758); Fig. 6. OvdtipSd chinensi dmiges ( M elvill et S tanden, 1915). Photos courtesy David Lum. 452 Marco Passamonti Fig u re 7 . Narici efOSa (Linnaeus, 1758) showing its extended mantle resembling an algae tuft (Zanzibar, Tanzania). The shell is barely visible in the middle of the dorsum, since the mantle is not fully extended. Figures 8-12. Developmental stages of Ndvid Spurca (Mediterranean Sea). Fig. 8. Veliger shell; Fig. 9. Young shell (just metamorphosed); Fig. 10. L OlivCf stage; Fig. 11. Subadult; Fig. 12. Adult. Photos courtesy And re a Nappo and Dario Marcello Soldan. digest the mollusk, and eventually use cowrie shells (and others) to adorn their dens. Predations by shell drilling gastropods (e.g. Naticidae or Muricidae) seem to be much more rare. COWRIES’ REPRODUCTION Cowries reproduction is quite remarkable too. Females lay eggs in clusters of capsules on hard surfaces and, at variance to many other gastropods, they hatch eggs by covering them with the foot (Fig. 14). Abandoned eggs may dye quite soon. This commitment in parental cares is unusual in marine gastropods, and it may be another reason for the success of this Family. When intracapsular development ends, planktotrophic larvae hatch and swim in the water column until they metamorph- ose. The length of larval stages may be different, and could be somehow related to the capacity of a given species to undergo local genetic diversifica- tion (i.e. subspecies and/or geographic races). Some species seem to have quite few divergent races, while others have a much higher geo- graphically structured pattern. On the other hand, direct developers seem to show different morphologies in different areas. In direct developers, young mollusks undergo intra- capsular development and, since they feed at the expenses of accessory eggs in the capsule, they keep growing until they hatch as crawling snails. This development, evolved many times in cowries, especially in some temperate water genera ( Zoila , Cypraeovula Gray, 1 824, Notocypraea Schiider, 1 927), has been often considered as an adaptation to improve the chances of larvae to find specific foods, like sponges they feed on. In fact, most direct developers are fully depending over limited food supplies, and they need to hatch as close as possible to their food, to increase chances of reaching adulthood. DISTRIBUTION AND BIOGEOGRAPHY Cowries are subtropical marine animals (Fig. 15), so most of them live in the oceans between the two tropics. The highest number of species is found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, and far less species live in theAtlantic (and the Mediterranean). Paulay and The family Cypraeidae: an unexpected case of neglected animals 453 Figure 13. Two Zoila friendH jeaniana (Cate, 1 968) (f. sherylae L. Raybaudi M assilia, 1990) grazing their host sponge in the open (Point Qobba, W - Australia). Photo courtesy Daniel Edinger. Figure 14. Erronea caurica cfr. quinquefasciata (p.f. Ro- ding, 1798) on eggs (Oman, Marisah Island). Photo courtesy Massimo Scali & Beautifulcowries Maga- zine. Figure 15. Distribution map of the living species of cowries. Photo courtesy Mirco Bergonzoni. Meyer (2006) proposed a species richness map of the Indo-Pacific cowries. The highest species richness is in the region going from the Philippines to M elanesia, especially along the boundary between East Indian Ocean and West Pacific. Species richness significantly decreases going westtowards Africa (although it locally increases again there), or east along the Pacific Ocean towards Polynesia and West Am erica. Quite significantly, similar species- richness patters have been found in reef-building corals, as in other reef-related organisms (see f.i. Malay & Paulay, 2010). In fact, the region comp ris- ing the ocean territories of Indonesia, the Philip- pines, Malaysia (Sabah), East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, is known as ‘the coral triangle’, hosting more than 500 species of reef-building corals (Veron, 1995). The reasons for these similar species distribution patterns could be both environmental and historical. Apparently the thousand of islands and reefs in South EastAsia, as well as their highly diverse habitats, were central to a rich species radiation in cowries and other reef- related animals. So that, probably, most of the wide- spread Indo-Pacific cowries have once originated in this area, and migrated (with different success) outwards by larval dispersion. As mentioned, the duration of veliger stages has been again related to dispersion and speciation rates 454 Marco Passamonti Figure 1 6 . G eographic diversification of the Erronea O YiyX species group. From left to right: Erronea adllSta adusta ( East Africa); Erronea adusta nymphae (M auritius; Chagos); Erronea adusta persica (India, Oman, Persian Gulf); Erronea adusta andamanensis (East Indian Ocean); Erronea ClduStCl melatiesiae { South West Pacific); Erronea onyx (N orth West Pacific). Photo courtesy Mirco Bergonzoni. Indian Ocean West pacific ,‘rPuY. ' fa - ^ ft East pacific Figure 17. Examples of the variability of the Leporicypraea mappa species complex from different basins. Photo courtesy Mirco Bergonzoni & Cypraea.net. The family Cypraeidae: an unexpected case of neglected animals 455 Figures 18-27. Examples of the variability of the Zondrid pyVWfl species complex. Figs. 18-21. Z. pyruifl pyvwn (G m elin, 1791): M editerranean Sea to M au ri tan ia -Senegal (N orth of Dakar); Fig. 22. Z. pyrUYYl inSuldTWTl Schilder, 1928:Algarve (Por- tugal), Cadiz (Spa in), Morocco, Canary Is.; Figs. 23-25. Z. pyVWTl petiticiHCl (Crosse, 1872): South of Dakar (Senegal), Ivory Coast, Gabon, C. Verde; Fig. 26. Z. pyrUYYl angelicas (Clover, 1974): N orth Gabon, Guinea Gulf (?); Fig. 27. Z. Cltlgolensis (Odhner, 1923): South Gabon, Luanda area (Angola). Photos c o urte sy Mirco Bergonzoni & Beautifulcowries Magazine. 456 Marco Passamonti Figures 28-39. Examples of close relative couples of taxa of Cypraeidae. The one on the left is always the one with a wide distribution range, the right one is the endemic relative with its range limited to peripheral locations. Above the line, the couples considered as subspecies; below the line, the couples considered as different species, from left to right. Figs. 28, 29: Lurid lurida (Mediterranean Sea) and L. luridd OCeanica (Ascension Is.); Figs. 30, 31: Ndrid helvold and N. helvold hawaiiensis (Hawaii); Figs. 32, 33: Ndrid cernicd and N. cernicd leforti (Easter Island); Figs. 34, 35: Ndrid dCWuldris and N. dciculdris Sdnctdhelende (Ascension and Saint Helena); Figs. 36, 37: Moiietdrid Cdputserpentis and M. CdpiltdrdCOnis (Easter Island and Sala Y Gomez); Figs. 38, 39: Cribrdruld dStdryi (f. lefditi ) and C. gdrcidi (Easter Island). Photos courtesy B eautifulco w ries Magazine. The family Cypraeidae: an unexpected case of neglected animals 457 by Paulay and Meyer (2006). Although duration of veliger stages is only weakly correlated to species range, it is significantly related to the diversification of cowries along the Indo-Pacific basin: i.e. the lower the veliger time is, the most is the geographic/taxonomic diversification. In fact, it is quite evident that some Indo-Pacific cowrie species show very little geographic variation, see f.i. Monet- aria caputserpentis, Monetaria annulus (Linnaeus, 175 8), while others are much more prone to produce local races/subspecies. Only because they have been recently analyzed in detail, I can mention here the Erronea onyx (Linnaeus, 1 75 8) species complex (Bergonzoni, 2013a), which appeared to differen- tiate in allopatric races (Fig. 16), and the Lepori- Cypraea niappa (Linnaeus, 1758) species group (Fig. 17), one of the most biogeographically and evolutionary complex cases among cowries (Ber- gonzoni & Passamonti, 2014). By analyzing such complexes in detail, very interesting cases on evol- utionary history of marine organisms became evident, including allopatric speciation events, incipient speciation, relevance of genetic flow for morphological diversification, etc. More case studies are really interesting, but they still have to be ana- lyzed in detail, as f.i. the genera Cribvarula Strand, 1929 and TaloStolida Ire dale, 1931, and the Bistolida Stolida (Linnaeus, 1 75 8) and Erronea CUUrica ( Lin- naeus, 1758) species complexes,justto name some. As mentioned, cowries also colonized the At- lantic, although their species richness is much lower in this Ocean. Most likely, this colonization was rather old, since at present the cold currents of South West America (Humboldt Current) and South West Africa (Benguela Current) are evidently a strong barrier for larval dispersion and cowries set- tling. At present, no species seems to be able to spread from the Indo-Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean north of Namibia, or in South America. Of course no one lives in the Arctic Ocean as well. Neverthe- less, Atlantic cowries have evident affinities with Indo-Pacific ones. For instance, the genus MaCW- Cypraea Schilder, 1930 is present at both sides of Figure 40. Represen tatives of the South African genus CypraeOVulu. Photo courtesy Goncalo Rosa and Mirco Bergonzoni. 458 Marco Passamonti the Isthmus of Panama, as it likely originated loc- ally before the Isthmus was closed. On the other side of the Atlantic, we have examples of couples of allied species found in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea/North West Indian Ocean [Lliria luvida (Linnaeus 17 58)/Luria pulchva (Gray, 1 824)], maybe a Thetyan residue. Some other genera are end em ic to this reg io n ( ZonClria Jousseaume, 1884; Schilderia Tomlin, 1930). Finally, a peculiar distri- bution is given by the Nana spUVCO. complex of species: this com prises three species, Nciria SpUTCCl (Linnaeus 1 7 5 8), Narid aticularis ( G m e lin , 1791), and Nciria cernica (Sowerby, 1 870). The first is distributed in the Mediterranean/WestAtlantic, the second along the East American coastlines, the lat- ter is one of the most widely dispersed indopacific cowries. Although the exact colonization tempos and modes of Atlantic cowries are hard to speculate, Figures 41-45. Ext re me variability in Zoila from Western and South Australia. Figs. 41-43: Zoila friendii subspecies /forms. Fig . 44 : Z. ketyana sub spec ie s/form s . Fig . 45 : Z. VenUStCl sub spec ie s/form s . P ho to s co urtesy M ire o B ergo nzo ni & C ypraea.net. The family Cypraeidae: an unexpected case of neglected animals 459 their phylogenetic relatedness to Indo-Pacific ones is evident. Detailed phy logeographic analyses are potentially of great interest to reconstruct the geo- logical history of the Atlantic basin, its past connec- tions and/or geological changes. Again, as for Indo-Pacific cowries,in theAtlantic as well the duration of cowries larval stages has been correlated by the rate of morphological diver- sification. One paradigmatic example comes from the Zonaria pyrwn (Gmelin, 1 7 9 1 ) species complex (Figs. 18-27), spreads in the Mediterranean and West Africa region. Again, a short larval stage has been related to the extreme capacity to differentiate geographically, with different taxa spreading along the African coast (Bergonzoni, 2013b). Another interesting case of evolution comes from cases of species/subspecies couples in which one has a wide range, and the allied one has a Figures 46-47. The genus Umbilici (South and East A ustralia). Fig. 46: Umbilici hesitCltCl Species complex. F ig . 46 : U. armeniaca. Photos courtesy Mirco Bergonzoni & Cypraea.net. 460 Marco Passamonti Figure 48. Barycypraea teulerei (Oman). Two males ap- Figure 49. Barycypraea fultoni fultoni (Natal, S. Africa), proaching a female hatching eggs into a empty bivalve shell. Photo courtesy Felix Lorenz & B eautifulco w ries Magazine. peripheral endemic distribution. Figures 28-39 show some cases. Most of them are isolated endemics, likely arisen p arap h y le tic ally . Quite remarkably, they are treated much differently in established taxonomy: some are actually con- sidered as full species, some other as subspecies, although no evident reason (besides A uthors’ opin- ion) has been produced so far. As mentioned, cowries were able to colonize temperate waters as well. This is particularly evid- ent for South Africa and West/South Australia, in which endemic genera evolved. In South Africa, the most striking evolutionary radiation is the genus Cypraeovula (Fig. 40), including different closely related species that sometimes hybridize too. On the other side of the Indian Ocean, in Western Australia, another striking example of colonization of tempe- rate waters is the genus Zoila (Lorenz, 2001; W ilson and Clarkson, 2004) (Figs. 41-45). The Zoila cowries are sponge eaters and direct developers, and this caused a flourishing of local races, making them one of the most taxonom ically complex groups of marine organisms. Along with Zoila, another similar case is the genus NotOCypraea, which is however much less known in detail. Fi- nally the genus UlYlbili(X Jousseaume, 1884 (W ilson and Clarkson, 2004) is another sticking Australian endemism of temperate waters, as it is distributed along the East and South coast (Figs. 46, 47). Other cases of direct developers are found as well, such as the genera Barycypraea and Mura- cypraea Woodring, 1 957, and few others. In all cases, these species have a very limited range. F.i. Barycypraea teulerei ( Cazenavette, 1 846) (Fig. 48), a shallow water direct developer (Scali, 2013; 2014), seems to be found in a limited area of Oman only, while the deep water relative Barycypraea fultOlli (Sowerby III, 1 903) is found between Mozambique and SouthAfrica (Bergonzoni, 2012) (Fig. 49). Another case of direct developer with little dispersal capacity is Muracypraea 171US (Linnaeus, 1758), limited to the Gulf of Venezuela coasts and Guajira Peninsula in Colombia. THE MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS OF COWRIES AND THEIR TAXONOMY This is probably the field of cowries biology that has been more thoughtfully investigated. In fact, a huge phylogenetic reconstruction, based on DNA, have been proposed by Meyer (2003; 2004). The primary outcome of this pivotal work is an ultimate tuning of the so vrasp ecific taxonomy of the family. Quite remarkably, most of the subfamilies and ge- nera proposed by older A uthors on morphology (see f.i. S childer & Schilder, 1 938; Schilder, 1 939; 1 966;) have been confirmed by DNA. The family Cypraeidae is now subdivided into 7 subfamilies ( A rch ic y p raein ae , Erosariinae, Umbiliinae, Cypraeinae, Bernayinae, Luriinae and C y p raeo v u lin ae ) and 48 genera (Moretzsohn, 2014), and this arrangementhas gained a very good agreement among cowrie experts. The family Cypraeidae: an unexpected case of neglected animals 461 Even if a relatively stable sovraspecific tax- onomy has been reached in the Family, this is certainly untrue for species level and, even more, below it. Most of the proposed taxonomies are based on morphological analyses, as well as on Authors’ opinions. Only few DNA data and/or detailed evolutionary studies are available to date. Moreover, a certain degree oftaxonomic prolifera- tion has been certainly triggered by economic factors: in fact, many cowrie collectors want new names, so that a new named cowrie gets a much higher value in the marked. This cause what I’d call ‘economic speciation’, with some humor, of course! This approach should be strongly stigmatized for two reasons: 1st, it produces an unnecessary prolif- eration of taxonomic names; 2nd, it has no biolo- gical bases in most cases. Another problem comes from the rules of tax- onomy, and this is particularly evident for species and subspecies names, which are under the provi- sions of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. In my opinion, new species and sub- species names should not be introduced in tax- onomy if not based on rigorous biological and evolutionary analyses. Nevertheless, specialized collectors need to have names to refer to morpho- logies that are just not so important for evolutionary biologists, like local variants, unstable morphs, aberrations, etc. The use of ‘forma’ names should be a good compromise, because they, one side, meet collectors’ needs for names, and, the other do not increase taxomonic complexity (i.e., infrasub- specific names are not under the provisions of the Code). This approach is not without problems, of course, but it seems to me the only possible compromise between two different, and sometimes contrasting, needs. MUTATIONS AND ABERRATIONS Albinism and rufinism As it happens in all living beings, cowries may show some interesting mutations and aberrations. Some of them, being rare, may produce some of the most sought-after and priced cowries, so all collect- ors know them very well. On the other hand, their biological causes are quite unknown or neglected. I try to highlight some of them here. F ig ure 5 0. ZoUa dedpieUS from Broome area, W-Australia. From left to right: black (normal), alb in o and rufinistic shells. Photo courtesy Drew Strickland. 462 Marco Passamonti The first example comes from rare recessive mutations, such as cowries’ albinism (producing white shells) or rufinism (producing orange shells) (Fig. 50). These phenotypes are evidently due to rare mutations affecting the genes for shell color. It is quite remarkable that white or orange shells are not necessary associated to white and orange animals, respectively. This clearly points out to the observation that genes for shell color are different from the ones of the soft parts. For this reason, it would be inaccurate to call such specimens ‘albino’ or ‘rufinistic ’ , but I use these terms here for simpli- city. Both rufinistic and albino cowries have been proposed to be the result of mutations over the same metabolic pathways producing brown/black pigments (melanin?). For a detailed discussion see Passamonti and Hiscock (2013). Besides their high collecting value, the appear- ance of rare mutants within a population represents an interesting case to study the dynamics of allele frequencies, and the effects that collecting pressure may have on the variability of natural populations. A paradigmatic example is that of Zoilci WSSelli SCltiatCl Lorenz, 2002, from Fitzroy Reef, Quobba Point, North West Australia. This once quite large population was an important source of rosselli spe- cimens, and many hundreds have been collected over the years. Among normal shells, around 40 rufinistic specimens were found (f. edingeri Raybaudi M assilia, 1 990) (Beals, 2013) (Fig. 51). These shells were collected over a limited time- lapse, as the first ones were collected in 1 988, and they disappeared soon after 1997. Why the mutant disappeared so fast? One may think that this is because all orange shells were collected, so they Figure 51. Zoila rosselli satiata and Z. rosselli satiata f. edingeri (rufinistic). Both found at Point Quobba, W-Australia. Photo courtesy Daniel Edinger and Beautiful- cowries Magazine. could not produce orange progeny anymore. Howe- ver, this is not fully the case: since rufinistic muta- tions are likely recessive (i.e. they may ‘hide’ in eterozygous individuals), two heterozygous black mates may well produce 14 of orange shells, accord- ing to M endelian proportions. So, the overall col- lecting pressure (on both black and orange specimens) is rather the reason of this disappear- ance: by reducing dramatically the number of individuals, the population underwent a strong ‘bottleneck’, which is well known in evolutionary biology to reduce genetic variability. Because chances for rare alleles to pass throughout a population bot- tleneck are very scarce, the rufinistic allele was soon lost from the population, and no edingeri was found since then. This also means that the chances that this allele will appear again in Quobba are quite low, and the edingeri rufinistic mutation is simply no longer existing. However, rufinistic shells are found within many other Zoila species, as well as in some other cowries. So rufinism is likely a case of recurrent mutation. F.i. an independent rufinistic morph has been recently evidenced in another Zoilci WSSelli population (see Lorenz, 2011; 2014). Albinos are much more rare among cowries. Although many cowries may be white or whitish, the rare albino mutants are only known for very few cowries [f.i. in Cyproeo tigris (Fig. 5 2), and Zoila dedpienS Smith, 1 8 8 0 (Fig. 5 0 ) J . What is quite interesting is that albino morphs may became fixed in some populations (i.e. all the shells are albinos), hence they are not rare mutants anymore: two paradigmatic examples are Ncirici ebume Cl B a rnes , 1 824 (Fig. 53) and Erronea nymphae J ay , 1 8 5 0 (see Fig. 16). Both are clearly related to non-albino relatives, Narici miliaris (Gm eiin, 1791) and Erronea adllSta, (Lamarck, 1810), respectively. These are likely cases in which the ‘albino’ allele was fixed into a new population because of a ‘founder effect’, i.e. when a new population had established in a new area the albino allele become by chance the unique one (i.e. it was fixed). Niger and rostrated cowries This is another interesting feature, which ap- pears to be unique to some cowries and only one ovulid species, CalpumuS VerriiCOSUS (Linnaeus, 1758). It is evident that these two characteristics are the outcome of the unusual developmental scheme The family Cypraeidae: an unexpected case of neglected animals 463 Figure 52. Two normal CypraeCL tigris along with an albino one (Madagascar and Philippines). Photo courtesy Mirco B ergonzoni & Cypraea.net. Figure 53. Two species of the genus Naria. N avid miliavis from China (left) and N. eblimeci from New Caledonia (right). of cowries’ shells. As mentioned, adult cowries stop growing, since the deposition of shell layers and pigments stops or strongly reduces. However, in some specimens, the signal to stop seems not to work properly, and the shell keeps growing by adding layers of shell and/or pigment. Hence such cowries quickly get a ‘gondola shape’ (rostrated), as well as a deep black color (melanic or ‘niger’ cowries). Both phenomena may appear together, or not, depending on species. Some species become melanistic and rostrated altogether, others may only be rostrated (these are the ones that do not have brown/black colors in normal adults). Also, the degree of rostration and melanism may vary among individuals (Figs. 54, 55 ). Even if such phenotypes are occasionally found over the entire range of some cowrie species, it is quite remarkable that they get much more common in two specific areas: the southern reefs of New Caledonia, and the Keppel Bay area in Queensland. The biological causes of such aber- rations are still unknown, and some have linked these phenomena to the presence on heavy metals (nickel?) in the water (see, f.i., Pierson and Pierson, 1975). What I think it is interesting is the presumable genetic base of melanism and rostra- tion: as mentioned, both could easily be inter- preted as a malfunctioning of genetic regulation of shell development. The pattern of expression of developmental genes is somehow affected (by metals? by other environmental factors? by muta- tions?), and the genes for deposition of shell color and layers just fail to stop at adulthood, as it hap- pens in normal cowries. Needless to say that we have no clue on which genes are involved in such processes, and this would certainly be a nice case study for developmental biologists. CONCLUSIONS In this paper I tried to highlight some biological peculiarities of cowries, making them interesting case studies to many aspects of evolutionary bio- logy, not only for taxonomy. Cowries are very inter- esting marine organisms, and, even if they have been studied by very few professional biologists, they are well known by amateurs, and a huge amount of ‘first-hand’ data are available. This manuscript is far to be complete, and many other interesting cases could be highlighted; nevertheless I hope that this short review has attracted your interest to this amazing group of animals, that certainly deserves more studies. The collection of cowries, which is unfortunately so deeply money- driven, is certainly a restraint to biological studies, since some species are hardly accessible and col- lecting data are often vague (to preserve a relevant 464 Marco Passamonti Figures 54, 55. Examples of different degrees of melanism and rostration in New Caledonian cowries. Fig. 54: Mauritia ( Arabica ) eglantina-. Fig. 55 . Bistolida stolida. The family Cypraeidae: an unexpected case of neglected animals 465 source of income for divers/dealers). On the other hand, an important collecting effort is a precious help for biologists, since maybe for no other group of gastropods we have such a huge amount of know- ledge ‘in the field’. We should therefore try to build a ‘bridge’ between the two words (cowries amateurs and biologists) that both may benefit: collectors will start to consider cowries not as just precious and beautiful objects, and evolutionary biologists/ professional m alacologists as interesting animals to study. Only this way, the preconception that cowries are just pretty but uninteresting animals will be definitively overcome. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This paper is the written transposition of my invited talk at the ‘VII Pontine M alacological Congress’, held in San Felice Circeo (Latina, Italy). I wish to thank you very much the organ- izers, Silvia Alfinito and Bruno Fumanti, as well as the M alakos 2002 association and members, for this nice opportunity, their lovely welcome and the beautiful conference location. A special thanks goes to friends who provided some of the images of this paper (in alphabetical order): Mirco Ber- gonzoni (Calderara, Italy), Daniel Edinger (Man- durah, Western Australia), David Lum (Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A.), Andrea Nappo (Quartu Sant’ Elena, Italy), Goncalo Rosa (Lisboa, Portugal), M assimo Scali (Imola, Italy), D ario Marcello So Id an (Milan, Italy), Drew Strickland (Geraldton, Western Australia).A special thanks goes to Mirco Bergonzoniforthe numerous evening spent talking about our beloved cowries. REFERENCES Beals M ., 2013. A second review of Zoilci WSSelli edillgeri Raybaudi, 1990. B eautifulco w ries M agazine, 1 : 4-11. Bergonzoni M ., 2013a. Let’s make some order in the Erronea onyx species complex. B eautifulcow ries Magazine, 4: 31-59. Bergonzoni M ., 2012. Barycypraeci fllltoni, a tale of a fallen star. B eautifulco w ries Magazine, 2: 4-19. Bergonzoni M., 2013b. The ZoilCiria pyruni complex. B eautifulcow ries Magazine, 3: 35-56. Bergonzoni M . & Passamonti M ., 2014. A monograph on Leporycypraea mappa-. a taxonomic and evolutionary puzzle. B eautifulcow ries Magazine, 6: in press. Lorenz F., 2001. Monograph of the living Zoilci. Conch books, Hackenheim (Germany), 188 pp. Lorenz F., 2011. A new species of Zoilci from SW Australia (Gastropoda: Cypraeidae). S chriften zur Malakozoologie (Cismar),26: 11-14. Lorenz F., 2014. New findings of Zoilci rciyWCllkeri Lo- renz, 2013. B eautifulcow ries Magazine, 5: 36-37. Malay M .C . & Paulay G., 2010. Peripatric speciation drives diversification and distributional pattern of reef herm it crabs (Decapoda: Diogenidae: CcildnuS) . Evolution, 64-3: 634-662. Meyer C.P., 2003. Molecular systematics of cowries (Gastropoda: Cypraeidae) and diversification patterns in the tropics. Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society, 79: 401-459. Meyer C .P., 2004. Towards c o m p ren siv e n e s s : in- creased molecular sampling with Cypraeidae and its phylogenetic implications. Malacologia, 46: 127- 156. Moretzsohn F., 2014. Cypraeidae: how well-inventoried is the best-known seashell family? American M alacological Bullettin, 32(2): 278-289. Okon M.E., 2013a. On dwarfs and giants. Part 1. Beau- tifulcowries Magazine, 3: 61-62. Okon M.E., 2013b. On dwarfs and giants. Part 2. Beau- tifulcowries Magazine, 4: 60-62. Okon M .E ., 2014. On dwarfs and giants. Part 3. Beauti- fulcowries Magazine, 5: 56-58. Passamonti M . & Hiscock M ., 2013. A closer look at rufin- istic and albino Zoilci. B eautifulcow ries M agazine, 1 : 8-18. Paulay G. & Meyer C., 2006. Dispersal and divergence across the greatest ocean region: do larvae matter? Integrative and Comparative Biology, 46: 269- 28 1. Pierson R. & Pierson G., 1975. Porcelaines mysterieuses de Nouvelle-C aledonie. Self printed, Noumea. 122 pp. Scali M., 2013. Barycypraeci teulerei (C azenavette, 1846). The rediscovery. B eautifulcow ries M agazine, 3:4-11. Scali m., 2014. Barycypraeci teulerei, going back to the recently discovered new population. Beautiful- cowries Magazine, 5: 31-35. Schilder F.A . & Schilder M ., 1 93 8. Prodrome of a monograph on living Cypraeidae. Proceedings of the M alacological Society of London, 22-23: 1 19 — 23 1. Schilder F.A., 1939. Die Genera der Cypraeacea.Archiv fur Molluskenkunde, 71: 165-201. Schilder F.A., 1966. The higher taxa of cowries and 466 Marco Passamonti their allies. The Veliger, 9: 31-35. Veron J.E.N., 1995. Corals in space and time: biogeo- graphy and evolution of the Scleractinia. UNSW Press, Sydney (Australia), 334 pp. Wilson B. & Clarkson P., 2004. Australia’s spectacular cowries. A review and field study of two endemic Genera: Zoilci and Umbilici. Odyssey Publishing, El Cajon (California), 396 pp. Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 467-480 Monograph The Recent Rissoidae of the Mediterranean Sea. Notes on the genus Onoba s.s. H. Adams et A. Adams, 1 852 (Gastropoda Prosobranchia) Bruno Amati 1 & Italo Nofroni 2 'Largo Giuseppe Veratti 37/D, 00146 Rome, Italy; e-mail: bmno_amati@yahoo.it 2 Via Benedetto Croce 97, 00142 Rome, Italy; e-mail: italo.nofroni@uniromal.it "■Corresponding author ABSTRACT The Mediterranean species belonging to the genus Onoba H. Adams et A. Adams, 1852 as currently conceived, are reviewed. With the exception of O. semicostata (Montagu, 1803) and O. aculeus (Gould, 1841) that range mostly in the European North-Eastern Atlantic and are rarely found in the Western Mediterranean, this genus is represented by six species with rather limited ranges: O. dimassai Amati et Nofroni, 1991; O. josae Moolenbeek et Hoenselaar, 1987; O. guzmani Hoenselaar et Moolenbeek, 1987; O. tarifensis Hoenselaar et Moolenbeek, 1987; O. gianninii (Nordsieck, 1974) and O. oliverioi Smriglio et Mariottini, 2000. A further possibly undescribed species is figured. For all species comparative morphometries are provided. Onoba josae Moolenbeek et Hoenselaar, 1987 is here recorded for the first time in Italy, with the easternmost locality in this range. KEY WORDS taxonomy; Rissoidae; Onoba; Recent; Mediterranean Sea; first record. Received 21.02.2015; accepted 23.03.2015; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the Eighth Malacological Pontine Meeting, October 4th- 5th, 2014 - San Felice Circeo, Italy INTRODUCTION The genus Onoba H. Adams et A. Adams, 1852 has been frequently discussed in the malacological literature (e.g. H. & A. Adams, 1852: 358; Jeffreys, 1867: 37; Watson, 1873: 387; Verril, 1884: 182; Friele, 1886: 28; Dautzenberg, 1889: 52; Waren, 1973: 4; Waren, 1974: 130; Rolan, 1983: 139; Ponder, 1985: 54; Templado & Rolan, 1986: 117; Bouchet & Waren, 1993: 659; Ponder & Worsfold, 1994: 26; Rolan, 2008: 233; Nekhaev et al., 2014: 269) and has a global distribution, ranging in both hemispheres from the poles to at least the subtropics (Ponder, 1985: 55; Rolan, 2008: 233; Avila et al., 2012:4). It is currently subdivided into some few sub- genera: Onoba (type species Turbo striatus J. Adams, 1797), Ovirissoa Hedley, 1916 (type species Rissoa adarensis Smith, 1902), Subestea Cotton, 1944 (type species Alvania seminodosa May, 1915) and Manawatawhia Powell, 1937 (type species M. analoga Powell, 1937). Seven central-western Mediterranean species, most of which have been described during the last forty years, are currently ascribed to the nominal subgenus (Rolan, 1983: 139; Aartsen et al., 1984: 20; Templado & Rolan, 1986: 117; Oliverio et al., 1986: 35; Moolenbeek & Hoenselaar, 1987: 153; Hoenselaar & Moolenbeek, 1987: 17; Amati & Nofroni, 1991: 30; Smriglio & Mariottini, 2000: 15; 468 Bruno Amati & Italo Nofroni Giannuzzi-Savelli et al., 2002: 80; Rolan, 2008: 233; Gofas et al., 2011: 193; Avila et al., 2012: 5; Bouchet, 2014); these species are: Onoba semicost- ata (Montagu, 1803), O. gianninii (Nordsieck, 1974), O. tarifensis Hoenselaar et Moolenbeek, 1987, O. guzmani Hoenselaar et Moolenbeek, 1987, O.josae Moolenbeek et Hoenselaar, 1987, O. dimas- sai Amati et Nofroni, 1991 and O. oliverioi Smriglio et Mariottini, 2000. Another species, O. aculeus (Gould, 1841), geographically ranging typically on both sides of northern Atlantic including Greenland, has been reported only once from the Mediter- ranean Sea (Giannuzzi-Savelli et al., 2002: 80). The missing of new further records convinced some Authors to exclude this species from the main Mediterranean check-lists (Rolan, 2008: 241; Nekhaev et al., 2014: 272). A further possibly undescribed species has been recorded ( Onoba sp.: Amati & Nofroni, 1991: 34), but never formally named. The anatomy of the genus Onoba has been studied by Ponder (1985: 56). Here we utilize the only shell morphology for the description and comparisons of the Mediterranean species. The most important iconographic references are reported for each species. ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS. BA: Bruno Amati collection, Rome, Italy. CS: Carlo Smriglio collection, Rome, Italy. IN: Italo Nofroni collection, Rome, Italy, lv: live collected specimen. MCZR: Museo Civico di Zoologia, Rome, Italy. MNHN: Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. MO: Marco Oliverio collection, Rome, Italy. MZB: ‘Museo di Zoologia’ of the Uni- versity of Bologna, Italy. PM: Paolo Mariottini col- lection, Rome, Italy. RAMM: Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter, Devon, UK. SB-MS: Stefano Bartolini-Maria Scaperotta collection, Florence, Italy. SEM: Scanning Electron Microscope, sh: empty shell, v.: versus. ZMA: Zo- ological Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. SYSTEMATICS Family Rissoidae Gray, 1847: 152 (as Rissoaina) Genus Onoba H. Adams et A. Adams, 1852: 358 Type-species: Turbo striatus J. Adams, 1797 non Da Costa, 1778 = Onoba semicostata (Montagu, 1803: 326 (by monotypy) Morphology. Diagnosis shell of genus Onoba (from Ponder, 1985: 54): “Shell: minute to small, ovate-conic to elongate-ovate, non-umbilicate to narrowly umbilicate, smooth or with weak to strong spiral sculpture, with a few spiral keels. Axial sculpture usually rather weak to very weak; some- times axial ribs present but do not extend over base; sculpture rarely clathrate. Aperture with simple peristome, oval, weakly angled and channelled posteriorly, simple and rounded anteriorly; outer lip opisthocline, varix weak to heavy. Protoconch dome-shaped, sometimes with 1 or more spiral keels; smooth (Ovirissoa) or with microsculpture of granules, anastomosing or spirally aligned raised threads or, sometimes, wavy, spirally arranged rows of granules. Periostracum very thin to well developed ’ ’. Diagnosis shell of subgenus Onoba : (from Ponder, 1985: 56): “Shell: broadly ovate-conic to elongate ovate, rather solid, non-umbilicate, usually with many well developed spiral cords and, sometimes, weak axial ribs; microsculpture of fine spiral lirae usually present. Strong spiral cords in a few species and, in some species, surface smooth. Aperture subcircular, subangled and weakly chan- nelled posteriorly, varix on outer lip strong to mod- erate. Protoconch domeshaped of about 11/2 whorls in nearly all species, rarely up to 2 2/4 whorls (as in O. 'semicostata '); sculptured vari- ously, for example, with exceedingly weak to moder- ately strong spiral lines with either parallel to oblique wrinkles or granules between, as in O. aculea (Gould) and O. moreleti Dautzenberg and in Fretter & Graham's (1978) figure of O. 'semi- costata'; with irregular, raised, wavy threads, as in O. foveauxiana. (Suter); with scattered granules, as in O. fumata, O. kermadecensis (Powell) and sev- eral other southern species, as well as O. n. sp.from the Eocene of France; (see also Thiriot Quievreux & Babio, 1975; Fretter & Graham, 1978 ).” Onoba semicostata (Montagu, 1803) (Figs. 1-6) Turbo striatus J. Adams, 1797: 66 non da Costa, 1778: 86 Turbo semicostatus Montagu, 1803: 326, pi. XXI, fig. 5 Rissoa ecostata Michaud, 1830 (WoRMS: Bouchet, 2014) Rissoa minutissima Michaud, 1830 (WoRMS: Bouchet, 2014) Rissoa peticularis Menke, 1830 (WoRMS: Bouchet, 2014) The Recent Rissoidae of the Mediterranean Sea. Notes on the genus Onoba s.s. (Gastropoda Prosobranchia) 469 Onoba Candida (Brown, 1827) (Giannuzzi-Savelli, 2002: 80) Iconographic references. Montagu (1803: 326, pi. XXI, fig. 5); Reeve (1878: pi. V fig. 40 as Rissoa striata)', Rolan (1983: 139, 140, 3 un- nambered figures as Onoba aculeus and 5 un- numbered figures as Onoba striata)', Rolan (2008: 234, figs. 1-12); Giannuzzi-Savelli et al. (2002: 80, fig. 255 as Onoba Candida (Brown, 1827)); Nekhaev et al. (2014: 269, figs. 1 A-B, 4 A, D). Type locality. Atlantic Ocean, south coast of Devonshire, United Kingdom. Type material. Not seen. Probable syntypes in Montagu collection (RAMM) Examined material. Norway: Grande, Viken, - 100/200 m, 07.1974, 1 sh (BA); Spain: Vigo- Baiona, North-West Atlantic, beached, 08.1982, 1 sh (IN); Vigo Bay (Atlantic) -15 m (legit Palazzi, 1982), 11 juv. sh (IN); Fuengirola, (Malaga) beached (ex coll. Bogi), 1 sh (IN); France: Carteret, Normandy, (Atlantic, 1976), beached, 1 sh (IN); Binard (Atlantic, 1975) among littoral seaweeds, 2 lv (IN); no locality, 1 sh (IN). Original description. Montagu, 1803: “Z with a short, conic, white shell, obtusely pointed: volu- tions four or five, rounded, well defined by the sep- arating line, and wrought with fait ribs, and fine obsolete transverse striae on the body whorl, both of which are inconspicuous on the superior spires: the ribs do not extend to the lower part even of the body, where the spiral transverse striae become most conspicuous: aperture suborbicular; pillar lip a little reflexed, Columella smooth. Length half a line; breadth one half its length. Found in sand on the south coast of Devonshire, but very rare. This at first sight might be confounded with Turbo Spiralis, but differs in the volutions being more rounded, in the ribs being coarser, and in being des- titute of the tooth-like plication of the columella.'’'’ Distribution and habitat. Eastern Atlantic, Madera (Avila et al., 2012), Spain (Rolan, 2008), British Isles (Jeffreys, 1867: 37; Fretter & Graham, 1978), Faroe Islands (Waren, 1996; Sneli et al., 2005), Iceland (Waren, 1996), Norway (Hoisseter, 2009). Barents Sea, Kola Peninsula (Golikov & Kussakin, 1978; Nekhaev et al., 2014: 271). r Mediterranean Sea (Avila et al., 2012), Alboran Sea, Fuengirola (Giannuzzi-Savelli et al., 2002: 80). Common and abundant under rocks and among algae, from the intertidal to -1000 m depth (Tem- plado & Rolan, 1986: 120); common on rocks in -8 m, less common in -80 m, rare under -200 m in the Zelenetskaya Bay, Barents Sea (Nekhaev et al., 2014: 272). Remarks. Onoba semicostata is the only Mediter- ranean Onoba with a planktotrophic larval develop- ment, and is therefore easy to identify (Rolan, 2008: 35, figs. 3-6; Nekhaev et al., 2014: 276, figs. 4 A, D). Shells tend to be curved (var. distorta Marshall fide Jeffreys, 1887: 35) and occasionally may have an additional labial varix. Shells collected in the central Mediterranean are probably fossils (Wurm). Onoba aculeus differs from O. semicostata in having a paucispiral protoconch (indicating a non planktotrophic development), a slightly scalariform suture with more convex whorls without subsutural axial ribs. Onoba breogani Rolan, 2008, known, at moment, for Galicia (Spain, Atlantic), is very similar to O. semicostata in shell morphology, having also subsutural axial ribs, but differs in its paucispiral protoconch. Onoba aculeus (Gould, 1841) (Figs. 7, 8) Cingula aculeus Gould, 1841: 266, fig. 172 Rissoa saxatilis Moller, 1842: 9 Rissoa artica Foven, 1846: 156 Rissoa multilineata Stimpson, 1851: 14 Onoba aculeus (Gould, 1841) (Giannuzzi-Savelli et al., 2002: 80) Iconographic references. Gould, (1841: 172, fig. 172) (not a good picture); Bouchet & Waren (1993: 660, fig. 1507); Delongueville & Scaillet (2001: 12, fig. 10); Giannuzzi-Savelli et al. (2002: 80, fig. 254); Nekhaev et al. (2014: 272, figs. 2 C-D, 4 B, E). Type locality. East Boston, Massachusetts (USA). Type material. Not seen. Originally deposited at the Boston Society of Natural History (BSNH: State Coll., No. 32. Soc. Cab., No. 2359. Gould, 1841: vi, 266). Examined material. Bergen (Norway, At- lantic), -1 m, 2 lv (IN). 470 Bruno Amati & Italo Nofroni Original description. Gould, 1841: “ Shell minute, sub- cylindrical; whorls convex, covered with regular, microscopic revolving lines; aperture ovate; umbilicus partial. Shell minute, ovate-cyl- indrical, elongated, light yellowish horn-color; whorls six, convex, and separated by a deep sutural region; the two upper ones forming a blunt apex, the lowest rather more than half the length of the shell; the whole covered with regular, crowded, mi- croscopic revolving lines; aperture one third the length of the shell, oval, oblique, angular behind, the margin simple and entire, barely touching the preceding whorl, somewhat expanded, and on the left side elevated, and slightly turned over an Figures 1-6. Onoba semicostata (Montagu, 1803): Figures 1, 2. Grande, Viken (Norway, Atlantic), height 2.9 mm (BA). Figures 3, 4. Binard (France, Atlantic), height 2.3 mm (IN). Figures 5, 6. Fuengirola, (Spain, Mediterranean Sea), height 2.7 mm (IN).Figures 7, 8. Onoba aculeus (Gould, 1841), Bergen (Norway, Atlantic), height 3.05 mm (IN). The Recent Rissoidae of the Mediterranean Sea. Notes on the genus Onoba s.s. (Gastropoda Prosobranchia) 471 umbilical depression or chink; operculum horny. Length 3/20 inch, breadth 1/15 inch, divergence 23°. Found sparingly on the partially decayed timbers of an old wharf, and plentifully on stones, about low-water mark, at East Boston .” Distribution and habitat. Western Atlantic (Gould, 1841), Greenland (Moller, 1842; Schiotte & Waren, 1992), Eastern Atlantic, Faroe Islands (Sneli et al., 2005), Iceland (Ingolfsson, 1996; Waren, 1996), British Isles (Fretter & Graham, 1978), Northern Norway (Hoisseter, 2009). Barents Sea, Kola Peninsula and White Sea (Golikov, 1987), Galicia (Templado & Rolan, 1986: 121). Mediterranean Sea, Alboran Sea (Giannuzzi-Savelli et al., 2002: 80). Very common in the Barents Sea in 0/-3 m on sandy bottoms (Nekhaev et al., 2014: 272). The species seems to prefer shallow waters with algae, and can tolerate brackish waters (Tem- plado & Rolan, 1986: 121). Remarks. The record from Ria de Vigo (Galicia: Templado & Rolan, 1986: 121) is the southernmost occurrence in the Atlantic Ocean, whilst the Al- boran Sea record (Giannuzzi-Savelli et al., 2002: 80) should represent the southern limit overall. Shells tend to be curved. O. aculeus is very similar to O. galaica Rolan, 2008, from Galicia (Spain). Whilst some measurements of teleoconchs (e.g. number of spirals cords on the penultimate and the body whorl) and protoconchs (maximum diameter) are similar in the two species (Rolan, 2008), the different protoconch sculpture (with fine spiral cords in O. aculeus and almost smooth in O. galaica) (Fretter & Graham, 1978; Waren, 1996; Rolan, 2008) and the less marked teleconch micros- culpture, along with other minor differences (e.g. deeper suture, larger size according to Waren, 1996) allow an easy separation of O. aculeus and O. galaica. See below under Onoba semicostata for the differences from Onoba aculeus. Onoba dimassai Amati et Nofroni, 1991 (Figs. 9-12) Onoba dimassai Amati & Nofroni, 1991: 30, figs. 1M Iconographic references. Amati & Nofroni (1991: 30, figs. 1-4); Giannuzzi-Savelli et al. (2002: 82, 83, fig. 256) Type locality. San Felice Circeo, Central Tyrrhenian Sea , Italy -30/50 m. Type material. Holotype (MCZR), 9 paratypes (loc. type) (BA), 2 paratypes (type loc.) (IN), 1 paratype (type loc.) (coll. Di Massa, Trieste), 2 paratypes Ventotene Is., Central Tyrrhenian Sea -25 m (MCZR ex coll. Pizzini), 7 paratypes Ventotene Is., Fe Sconciglie Shoal, Central Tyrrhenian Sea, -41m (MO), 3 paratypes Ponza Is., Central Tyrrhe- nian Sea, bioclastic sand sample Posidonia ocean- ica -15 m, 04.1979 (coll. A. Fugli, MO), 1 paratype Ponza Is., Central Tyrrhenian Sea, -35 m, 05.1983 (coll. Di Massa TS), 1 paratype S. Stefano Is., Central Tyrrhenian Sea, -40 m (MZCR ex coll. Pizzini), 1 paratype Giannutri Is., Central Tyrrhe- nian Sea, -27 m (MZCR ex coll. Pizzini), 1 paratype Giglio Is., Central Tyrrhenian Sea, -30 m, 06.1983 (coll. Di Massa, Trieste). Examined material. Type material; Italy: Ponza Is., Central Tyrrhenian Sea, -35 m, 1982-83, 3 sh (BA); Giglio Is., Central Tyrrhenian Sea, -30 m, 05.1983, 1 sh (BA); Ventotene Is., Central Tyrrhenian Sea, -40 m, Summer 2000, 9 sh (BA); 3 sh (topo- types) (BA); Zannone Is., Central Tyrrhenian Sea, -36.5 m, about 60 sh (IN). Egypt: Port Said, 1 sh (IN). Original description. Amati & Nofroni 1991: “ Conchiglia di piccole dimensioni, ovato-conica, elongata, fragile, semitrasparente, non ombelicata. Protoconca ottusa di 1,20-1,25 giri convessi, lisci; dimensioni: diametro del nucleo mm 0,13-0,18, diametro del primo mezzo giro mm 0,25-0,28; diametro massimo mm 0,30-0,38. Teleoconca di 2- 3 giri convessi, separati da una linea di sutura evi- dente e leggermente canalicolata. Ultimo giro abbastanza ampio, pari a circa i 2/3 dell ’altezza totale. Apertura ovale, angolata posteriormente, arrotondata e leggermente svasata anteriormente; labbro ortoclino semplice, tagliente, liscio, legger- mente inspessito esternamente. Scultura costituita da numerosi cordoncini spirali (24-30 sull ’ultimo giro); a forte ingrandimento tutta la superficie, sia i cordoncini che lo spazio tra gli stessi, appare percorsa da strie spirali filiformi. Sono presenti deboli strie di accrescimento ortocline. Colore biancastro, ma gli esemplari piu freschi appaiono leggermente giallastri. Opercolo e parti modi sconosciuti: Dimensioni: h. mm 1,40-2,10; d.mm 0,90-1,15; Rapporto d/2h 0,273-0,343.” 472 Bruno Amati & Italo Nofroni Distribution and habitat. Central Mediter- ranean Sea in the infralittoral zone in algal facies -15/50 m, also reported for Port Said (Egypt). Remarks. Onoba dimassai may have occasion- ally an additional labial varix on teleoconch. Com- pared to that of O. dimassai , the shell of O. josae is larger and stronger (H 2. 2-3. 2 mm v. H 1.4-2. 2 mm in O. dimassai), deeper suture v. canaliculate in O. dimassai ; stronger and more spaced spiral sculpture than in O. dimassai ; outer lip slightly opisthocline v. orthocline in O. dimassai ; proto- conch sculptured with 8 thin and irregular spiral cordlets v. an apparently smooth protoconch (also at SEM) in O. dimassai. Onoba tarifensis has a more slender shell with a more cylindrical outline and a finer, less incised sculpture, consisting in a higher number of spiral cordlets both on the penul- timate and on the body whorl (18-24 and 31-38, respectively v. 8-15 and 18-30 in O. dimassai)', a protoconch sculptured with 7 thin and irregular spiral cordlets v. an apparently smooth protoconch (also at SEM) in O. dimassai. Onoba gianninii has a larger shell (H 2. 2-2. 6 mm v. H 1 .4-2.2 mm in O. dimassai), is usually collected at greater depths (-93/500 m v. -15/50 m for O. dimassai), has a finer teleoconch sculpture, with a higher number of spiral cordlets on the body whorl (30-40 v. 18-30 in O. dimassai), and finally differs in having a clear umbilical chink, absent in O. dimassai. Onoba josae Moolenbeek et Hoenselaar, 1987 (Figs. 13-15,27) Onoba moreleti sensu van Aartsen et al. (1984: 20 fig. 81), not Dautzenberg, 1889 Onoba josae Moolenbeek & Hoenselaar (1987: 153 figs. 6-8) Iconographic references, van Aartsen et al., 1984: 20, fig. 81; Moolenbeek & Hoenselaar, 1987: 153, figs. 6-8; Giannuzzi-Savelli et al., 2002: 82, 83, figs. 260-261; Gofas et al., 2011: 193, two un- numbered figures; Scaperrotta et al., 2013: 62, five unnumbered figures. Type locality. Getares, Bay of Algeciras, Spain. Type material. Not seen. Holotype (ZMA Moll. no. 3.87.034), 40 paratypes (ZMA Moll. no. 3.87.035), 40 paratypes (coll. H.J. Hoenselaar), 1 paratype (MNHN of Parigi), 1 paratype (IRScNB), 4 juv. paratypes Spain, Getares, 3 paratypes Geta- res, 28 paratypes Getares (coll. H.J. Hoenselaar), 19 paratypes Getares (ZMA no. 3.87.036 and coll. H.P.M.G. Menkliorst). Examined material. Italy: S. Felice Circeo, Central Tyrrhenian Sea, -30/50 m, 07/1982, 1 sh (BA); Spain: North of Getares (Cadiz - Mediter- raneo), legit Gubbioli, 09/1987, 3 sh and 9 frag- ments, beached (IN); Tarifa -30 m, 1 sh (SB-MS). Original description. Moolenbeek & Hoense- laar, 1987: “ Description of the holotype. - Length 2.5 mm, width 1.3 mm (fig. 6 ). Shell oval-conical, semitransparent with some gloss on the surface, umbilicum closed. Protoconch dome-shaped, with about 1 V 4 whorls and with 8 weak and irregular spirals, protruding very little. Teleoconch about 3 Z 4 whorls with smooth spiral cords. The interstices are broader than the spiral cords (ratio 1 : 2 ) and are covered with 7-8 very fine, somewhat undulat- ing spiral striae. Penultimate whorl with about 9 spiral cords. The upper half of the penultimate whorl with very weak costae. Body whorl somewhat convex, with about 22-24 spiral cords. Aperture subcircular below and rather angular above (angle about 90°), weakly channeled posteriorly. Peristome simple, sharp and continuous. Outer lip clearly opisthocline. Colour white. Operculum, periostracum and soft parts unknown.’’'’ Distribution and habitat. Strait of Gibraltar, -30 m. One specimen without soft parts from Latial coast (Italy), in bioclastic sediment, -30/50 m. Remarks, van Aartsen et al. (1984) erroneously identified specimens from Getares (Spain) with O. moreleti Dautzenberg, 1889 (Ponder, 1985: 162, figs. 113c, d; Moolenbeek & Hoenselaar, 1987: 155, figs. 1-5), currently considered endemic to the Azores (originally reported as living at great depths, but later collected also in shallower waters: Gofas, 1990: 125). So far, O. josae was never reported from outside the area of Gibraltar Strait. The speci- men collected in the Central Tyrrhenian and herein reported is the first record from outside that area. The record is based on a single, partly broken and empty adult shell (Fig. 13) so it does not provide information on the local population viability. The shell was sorted out from a sample collected by fish- ing nets residuals from -30/50 m depth, along with many specimens of O. dimassai. Onoba moreleti differs from O. josae in having a more slender and smaller shell, (1.7-1. 9 mm v. 2. 2-3. 2 in O. josae). The Recent Rissoidae of the Mediterranean Sea. Notes on the genus Onoba s.s. (Gastropoda Prosobranchia) 473 less convex spire, smaller aperture, more or less dark yellowish colour v. white colour in O. josae, and a lower number of spiral cordlets both on the penultimate whorl and on the body whorl (respect- ively 8-9 and 16-17 v. 9-14 and 22-26 in O. josae). Onoba josae may have thin subsutural axial ribs and, very rarely, an additional labial varix. Onoba guzntani Hoenselaar et Moolenbeek, 1987 (Figs. 21, 22) Onoba guzmani Hoenselaar & Moolenbeek 1987: 19, figs. 7-12 Iconographic references. Hoenselaar & Moolenbeek (1987: 19, figs. 7-12); Giannuzzi- Figures 9-12. Onoba dimassai Amati et Nofroni, 1991: Figures 9, 10. San Felice Circeo, Central Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy) pa- ratype, height 2.05 mm (BA). Figure. 1 1 . San Felice Circeo, Central Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy) paratype, height 1.85 mm (BA). Figure. 12. Port Said (Egypt), height 1.7 mm (IN). Figures 13-15. O. josae Moolenbeek et Hoenselaar, 1987: Figure. 13. San Felice Circeo, Central Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy), height 2.57 mm (BA). Figures 14, 15. Getares Nord, Cadiz (Spain, Me- diterranean Sea), height 2.6 mm (IN). 474 Bruno Amati & Italo Nofroni Savelli et al. (2002: 82, 83, fig. 258); Gofas et al. (2011: 193, 1 unnumbered figure). Type locality: Tarifa, Spain. Type material. Not seen. Holotype (ZMA Moll. no. 3.87.003), 10 paratypes (ZMA Moll. no. 3.87.004) , 25 paratypes (coll. Hoenselaar), 3 para- types, Spain, Tarifa, IV. 1985 (ZMA Moll. no. 3.87.005) . Examined material. Spain: Getares North, Cadiz (Mediterranean) legit Nofroni, 08/1985, 1 sh, beach (IN); Tarifa -30 m, 1 sh (SB-MS). Original description. Hoenselaar & Moolen- beek, 1987: “ Description of the holotype. - Length 1.8 mm, width 0.80 mm (fig. 7). Shell minute, elong- ate-conic, non-umbilicate, fragile, semitransparent with some gloss on its surface. Protoconch dome- shaped, 1 'A whorls, smooth. Teleoconch with 2 3 A whorls with microscopical pit-marks more or less forming spirals (fig. 9). Suture deep; whorls concave. On the base 4 shallow spirals (fig. 10). Aperture ovate or drop-shaped, with an opistho- cline outer lip, varix small or lacking, peristome simple (figs. 10, 12). Operculum, periostracum and soft parts of the animal unknown.’’'' Distribution and habitat. Reported for the Strait of Gibraltar and Tangier (Atlantic Morocco) and Tarifa (Spain) -30 m. Remarks. Onoba guzmani is very similar to O. lincta (Watson, 1873), endemic to Madeira (At- lantic) (Watson, 1873: 387), which has a different teleoconch sculpture of fine spiral threads and some strong cords on the base (v. numerous series of microtubercles spirally arranged, and 4 spiral cordlets on the base) and the suture more incised, canaliculated. The protoconch of O. tarifensis it is sculpted by 7 weak spiral cordlets (v. smooth in O. guzmani ), a different teleoconch sculpture of 3 1-38 fine spiral cordlets on the last whorl (v. numerous series of microtubercles spirally arranged, and 4 spiral cordlets on the base) (Hoenselaar & Moolen- beelc, 1987, figs 3 and 9) and a stronger labial varix. Onoba tarifensis Hoenselaar et Moolenbeek, 1987 (Figs. 23, 24) Onoba tarifensis Hoenselaar & Moolenbeek, 1987: 17, figs. 1-6 Iconographic references. Hoenselaar & Moolenbeek (1987: 17, figs. 1-6); Giannuzzi- Savelli et al. (2002: 82, 83, fig. 259); Gofas et al. (2011: 193, 1 unnumbered figure). Type locality. Tarifa, Spain. Type material. Not seen. Holotype (ZMA Moll. no. 3.87.001), 8 paratypes (ZMA Moll. no. 3.87.002), 15 paratypes (coll. Hoenselaar), 1 para- type, Tarifa, IV. 1985 (coll. Hoenselaar). Examined material. Spain: Tarifa, Cadiz, legit Gubbioli, 1988, beach, 1 sh (IN); Tarifa -30 m, 1 sh (SB-MS); Punta Camero, Getares, 1 sh (CS); Cala Cica, Getares, 1 sh (CS). Original description. Hoenselaar & Moolen- beek, 1987: “ Description of the holotype. - Length 1.55 mm, width 0. 76 mm (figs. 1-4, 6). Shell minute, elongate-conic, non-umbilicate, fragile and semi- transparent, some gloss on its surface. Protoconch dome-shaped, a little less than 1 V 2 whorls with about 7 smooth spiral cords (fig. 6). Between these cords there is a microsculpture of rows of exceed- ingly minute irregular pits, except for the first V 2 whorl which looks smooth. Teleoconch with 2 V 2 whorls, with a very fine spiral sculpture of more or less smooth spiral cords/ribs; in between these cords a spongy sculpture of irregular pits (fig. 3). Penultimate whorl with about 20 spiral cords, body whorl with about 38 spiral cords. Suture deep, whorls concave. On the base a strong spiral columel- lar twist (fig. 4). Aperture ovate with an opistho- cline outer lip and a strong varix (fig. 5), peristome simple, weakly angled and channeled posteriorly, simple and rounded anteriorly. Operculum, peri- ostracum and soft parts of the animal unknown .” Distribution and habitat. Reported for the Strait of Gibraltar (Spain) 0/-30 m. Remarks. Onoba josae compared to O. tarifen- sis , has a stronger and larger shell with fewer spiral cordlets both on the penultimate whorl and on the body whorl (9-14 and 22-26 respectively v. 18-24 and 31-38 respectively in O. tarifensis). See under O. guzmani for distinction from O. tarifensis. Onoba gianninii (Nordsieck, 1974) (Figs. 18-20) Setia (Crisillosetia) gianninii Nordsieck, 1974: 11, % 4 The Recent Rissoidae of the Mediterranean Sea. Notes on the genus Onoba s.s. (Gastropoda Prosobranchia) 475 Cingula gianninii (Nordsieck, 1974) (See Verduin, 1984: 61, fig. 25) Setia gianninii Nordsieck, 1974 (See Amati & Nofroni, 1991: 32) Iconographic references. Nordsieck (1974: 11, fig. 4); Verduin (1984: 61, fig. 25); Oliverio (1988: 113, fig. 1 (operculum and radula)); Amati & Nofroni (1991 : 32, figs. 6-10); Bouchet & Waren (1993: 662, figs. 1518, 1519); Ardovini & Cossig- nani (1999: 38, fig. 035); Smriglio & Mariottini (2000: 17, figs. 7, 8); Giannuzzi-Savelli et al. (2002: 82, 83, fig. 257); Scaperrotta et al. (2012: 63, 5 un- numbered figures). Type locality. Strait of Bonifacio, Corsica, ‘station Kl’, -200/220 m. Type material. Lectotype (designated by Amati & Nofroni, 1991) MCZR, 1 paralectotype (coll. Giannini, Empoli). Bouchet & Waren (1993: 662) reported some “paratypes” in coll. Carrozza, coll, van Aartsen and coll. SMNH (not listed in the original work), which should be more correctly defined as “paralectotypes”. Examined material. Lectotype (MCZR); France: Bastia, Corsica, depth (unprecised) bio- clastic sands sample, 1 sh (BA); Italy: Capraia Is., Northern Tyrrhenian Sea , -400 m, 1 sh (BA); off Fiumicino, Central Tyrrhenian Sea, -300 m, 4 sh (BA); Capraia Is., Northern Tyrrhenian Sea, -350 m, 3 sh (IN); Capraia Is., Northern Tyrrhenian Sea, 1 sh (Bogi collection, Livorno). Original description. Nordsieck, 1974: “Setia (Crisillosetiaj gianninii n. sp. 3/1,7 mm. Olotipo nella collezione Giannini. Pallida, semitrasparente; 5 giri molto convessi, il primo (protoconca) at- tenuate). Sutura profonda. Circa 30/40 strie spirali sull ’ultimo giro, 15 sul penultimo. Sottile plica ombelicale. Comparando questa indubbiamente nuova specie con tutte le altre del sottogenere (v. tavola R IV del Vol. Ill) ci si avvede che non esiste alcuna altra specie ad essa avvicinabile sia per la convessitd dei giri, il numero delle spirali e le misure della conchiglia.” Distribution and habitat. Central Mediter- ranean Sea: Corsica (France), Sardinia, Tuscany and Latium (Italy), Algeria -93 m. (Bouchet & Waren, 1993: 663). In bioclastic sediments from -93/500 m depth. Remarks. O. gianninii may sometimes have an additional labial varix. O. oliverioi and O. gianninii have been found sympatric in the Central Tyrrhe- nian Sea, in the deepest bathymetric range of O. gianninii (-200/600 m O. oliverioi v. -93/500 m of O. gianninii). The shells of these two species are very similar; O. oliverioi differs mainly for the smaller size (H 1.6-2. 3 mm at 2.5-3 whorls v. H 2. 5-2. 6 mm at 2.5-3.25 whorls in O. gianninii), the flatter more sculpted and slightly smaller proto- conch, (maximum diameter 0.40-0.44 mm v. 0.46 mm (fide Bouchet & Waren, 1993: 663 in O. gian- ninii), the less slender outline (H/W = 1.44/1.65 v. H/W = 1.66-1.80 in O. gianninii), and the larger aperture (H/Ha = 1 .84-2. 16 v. FI/Ha = 2.1 8-2.22 in O. gianninii). See under O. dimassai for distinction from O. gianninii. Onoba oliverioi Smriglio et Mariottini, 2000 (Figs 16, 17) Onoba oliverioi Smriglio & Mariottini, 2000: 16, figs. 1-6 Iconographic references. Bouchet & Waren (1993: 663, figs. 1520, 1521) (sub nomine Onoba gianninii)', Smriglio & Mariottini (2000: 16, figs. 1 - 6 ). Type locality. Central Tyrrhenian Sea (41° 5 1 ’ N, 11° 28’ E) off coast of Latium -350/600 m. Type material. Holotype (MZB 14000); 1 paratype, type locality (MCZR); 9 paratypes, type locality (CS); 1 paratype, type locality (MO); 1 paratype, type locality (PM). Examined material. Type material partly ex- amined: type locality, 9 paratypes (CS), type loc- ality, 1 paratype (MCZR). Original description. Smriglio & Mariottini, 2000: “ Shell small (from 1.61 to 2.32 mm in height), conical-ovate, with a large aperture, blunt apex. Protoconch dome-shaped consisting of about 1.5 whorls, with a diameter of 400-440 um, sculptured with 6-8 fine and irregular spiral cordlets. Among them, several other interrupted fine furrows create a sort of micro-tuberculated sculpture. Teleoconch of about 3. 0 rounded convex whorls, the last one is about 2/3 of the entire length, average ratio H/W = 1.55, average ratio H/Ha = 1.99. Suture pronounced and shallowly channeled, axial growing lines evid- 476 Bruno Amati & Italo Nofroni ent, spiral sculpture consisting of about 27 evenly spaced ribs, with about 2-3 much smaller furrows in the interspaces. Aperture ovoid, umbilical crevice slightly visible. Colour milky-white or yellowish translucent. Operculum and animal unknown Distribution and habitat. Italy: Central Tyrrhe- nian Sea: Latium and Sardinia. France: Corsica. On muddy bottom in a deep-sea coral biocoenosis (bio- coenosis VB and CB sensu Peres & Picard, 1964) at a depth of -200/600 m (Bouchet & Waren, 1993: 663; Smriglio & Mariottini, 2000: 16). Remarks. Onoba oliverioi is characterized by having a shell with a low H/W ratio and to live at a maximum depth of -600 m. O. oliveriori differs Figures 16 17. Onoba oliverioi Smriglio et Mariottini, 2000, Central Tyrrhenian Sea, Latium (Italy) paratype H, height 1.8 mm (CS). Figure 1 8. O. gianninii (Nordsieck, 1 974): Fiumicino, Central Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy), height 2.6 mm (BA). Figures 19, 20. O. gianninii : Bastia, Corsica (France), height 2.5 mm (BA). The Recent Rissoidae of the Mediterranean Sea. Notes on the genus Onoba s.s. (Gastropoda Prosobranchia) All from O. dimassai for the deeper habitat (-200/600 m v. -15/50 m in O. dimassai ), by its higher number of protoconch whorls (about 1.5 v. 1.2-1.25 in O. dimassai ), the protoconch sculptured with 6-8 fine irregulars spiral cordlets v. an apparently smooth protoconch (also at SEM) in O. dimassai and a larger maximum diameter of the protoconch (0.40-0.44 mm v. 0.30-0.38 mm in O. dimassai). The number of the spiral cordlets on the teleoconch is boradly similar in the two species (about 25-30). See under O. gianninii for distinction from O. oliverioi. Onoba sp. (Figs. 25, 26) Onoba sp. A. Amati & Nofroni, 1991: 34, fig. 5 Figures 21, 22. Onoba guzmani Hoenselaar et Moolenbeek, 1987, Tarifa (Spain), height 2.1 mm (SB-MS). Figures 23, 24. O. tarifensis Hoenselaar et Moolenbeek, 1987, Tarifa (Spain), height 1.6 mm (SB-MS). Figures 25, 26. Onoba sp. San Felice Circeo, Central Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy), height 1.7 mm (BA). Figure 27. O.josae Moolenbeek et Hoenselaar, 1987, Tarifa (Spain), height 2.8 mm (SB-MS). 478 Bruno Amati & Italo Nofroni Character Onoba semicostata Onoba aculeus Onoba dimassai Onoba josae Onoba guzmani Onoba tarifensis Onoba gianninii Onoba oliverioi H 1. 8-3.5 2. 0-4.5 1. 4-2.2 22-3.2 1.4-2. 1 1.45-1.75 2. 5-2. 6 1.61-2.32 W 1.15-1.35 1.35-2.0 0.9-1.15 1.3-1. 5 0.7-1. 1 0.75-0.82 1.5-1.55 1.08-1.4 Ha 1.0-1.15 1.08-1.1 0.75-0.95 1. 1-1.2 0.59-0.95 0.72-0.75 1 .2-1.3 0.85-1.11 R.H/W 2.0-2.59 2.25-2.36 1.56-1.82 1.63-1.81 1.9-1.98 2.0-2.06 1.66-1.8 1.44-1.65 R.H/Ha 2.30-3.04 2-77-2.96 1.88-2.21 2.0-2.22 2.21-2.37 2.22-2.39 2.18-2.22 1.84-2.16 Tcs yes yes no no no no no no St deep, and channeled deep, slightly to scalanform slightly channeled deep deep deep deep pronounced and shallow channeled Nw 2.8-3. 8 (5/5.5)* 3.8 (4.5/5. 6)* 2-3 3.25-3.5 2.75-3 2.5-2.75 2.5-3.25 2.5-3 Nspw 12-15 10-14 8-15 9-14 microscopical pit-marks more or less forming spirals 18-24 15-17 11-12 Nslw 25-29 22-24 18-30 22-26 4 shallow spi- rals on the base 31-38 30-40 23-31 Asc yes occasionally, pronounced striae of growth no occasionally no no no no Table I. Ranges of morphometric characters of the teleoconch in Mediterranean species of the genus Onoba. Measurements in mm. H: height; W: width; Ha: height aperture; R.H/W: ratio height/width; R.H/Ha: ratio height/height aperture; Tcs: Tendency to curved shells; St: Suture; Nw: number of teleoconch whorls; Nspw: Spiral cords on the penultimate whorl; Nslw: number of spirals cords on the last whorl; Asc: Axial subsutural cords. *( ) Da Nekhaevet al., 2014. Probably also include the whorls of the protoconch. Iconography References. Amati & Nofroni (1991: 34, fig. 5) Examined material. Italy: San Felice Circeo, Central Tyrrhenian Sea, -30/50 m, VIII. 1982, legit Angelo Amati, 1 sh (BA). Description. Shell small, fragile, ovate-conical shape, semi-transparent, non umbilicated. Proto- conch dome-shaped, paucispiral, with sligthly twisted nucleus, consisting of just over one whorl (estimate uncertain, protoconch-teleoconch bound- ary not clearly visible), 0.25 mm high, with a nuc- leus diameter of 0. 1 3 mm and a maximum diameter of 0.32 mm without microsculpture as seen at a magnification of 90x. Teleoconch of 2.8 convex whorls with deep suture. Outer lip not tickened (probably the specimen was not fully adult) ortho- cline. Sculpture of 24 fine and flat spiral cordlets on the body whorl, 12 of which above the aperture. Finer threads covering the entire surface, visible at a magnification of 90x. Color white. Operculum and soft parts unknown. Dimensions: H = 1.7 mm, W =1.05 mm, Ha = 0.84 mm, H/W ratio = 1.619; H/Ha ratio = 2.023. Distribution and habitat. San Felice Circeo, Central Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy, a single shell in or- ganogenic detritus in the infralittoral at -30/50m. Found sympatric with O. dimassai and O.josae. Remarks. The single shell, so far known, is pe- culiar among the European Onoba , in its particular apex, with a paucispiral protoconch and a twisted nucleus. It is easily recognizable from all other species. Onoba dimassai is similar in the fragile shell, the white colour, the orthocline outer lip and the teleoconch spiral sculpture. It differs, however, in the different (not twisted) apex and the wider and more spaced teleoconch spiral cordlets. O. nunezi Rolan et Hernandez, 2004, endemic to the Canary Islands, is slightly smaller (about H 1 .3 mm v. H 1.7 mm in Onoba sp.), is more slender, has a teleo- conch spiral sculpture of about 10 weak well- spaced cordlets and the whole teleoconch surface is covered with finer and more numerous threads (Rolan & Hernandez, 2004: 174). Manzonia vigoen- sis (Rolan, 1983) was described as belonging to the genus Onoba but later Moolenbeelc & Faber (1987) The Recent Rissoidae of the Mediterranean Sea. Notes on the genus Onoba s.s. (Gastropoda Prosobranchia) 479 and Moolenbeek & Hoenselaar (1992) assigned it to the genus Manzonia Brasina, 1870; it resembles Onoba sp. for the general shape of the shell and the paucispiral protoconch with a twisted nucleus; but differs for the different sculpture of the teleoconch, with aligned micro-perforations a thickened outer lip both typical of the genus Manzonia. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We wish to thank our friends Stefano Bartolini and Maria Scaperrotta (Florence, Italy) and Carlo Smriglio (Rome, Italy) for the loan of some material of their collections and Emilio Rolan (Vigo, Spain) and Ermanno Quaggiotto (Longare, Vicenza, Italy) for the bibliographic help. Stefano Bartolini (Florence, Italy) made some of the light photo- graphs (Figs. 21-24 and Fig. 27). Marco Oliverio (La Sapienza Rome University, Italy) commented an early draft of the manuscript. REFERENCES Aartsen J. J. van, Menkhorst H.P.M.G. & Gittenberger E., 1984. 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Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (1): 481-490 Monograph The endemic door snail of Marettimo (Egadi Islands, Sicily, Italy): Siciliaria ( Siciliaria ) scarificata (L. Pfeiffer, 1 856) (Pulmo- nata Clausiliidae) Fabio Liberto 1 , Maria Stella Colomba 2 ,Agatino Reitano 3 , Salvatore Giglio 4 & Ignazio Sparacio 5 1 S tra d a Provinciale Celafu-Gibil manna, 93 - 90015 Cefalu, Palermo, Italy; email: fabioliberto@ yahoo.it "Universita di Urbino, DiSB, via Maggetti 22 (loc. Sasso), 61029 Urbino, Italy; e-mail: mariastella.colomba@ uniurb.it 'ViaGravina, 77 - 95030 Tremestieri Etneo, Catania, Italy; e-mail: tinohawk@yahoo.it 4 C ontrada Settefrati - 90015 Cefalu, Palermo. Italy; e-mail: hallucigenia@ tiscali.it 'via E. Notarbartolo, 54 int. 13 - 90145 Palermo. Italy; e-mail: isparacio@ inwind.it ABSTRACT The door snail Sicilicirici ( Siciliaria ) scarificata (L. Pfeiffer, 1856) (Pulmonata Clausiliidae) is re d e s c rib e d . The species is endemic to Marettimo (Egadi Islands, Sicily, Italy) and it is the only one of the genus Siciliaria V e st, 1 867 living in this island. Siciliaria Scarificata c an be morphologically identified by the presence of a high columellar lamella, ascending in a double “S” curve, a wide anterior upper palatal plica, long basal plica, sulcalis present; clausilium plate distally less narrowed; genitalia are characterized by very short bursa copulatrix duct; short diverticulum of bursa copulatrix; penial papilla conic and short. Notes about its taxonomy, biology and conservation status are also provided. KEY WORDS Door snail; Siciliaria', island endemism; taxonomy; conservation status. Received 21.02.2015; accepted 23.03.2 0 15; printed 30.03.2015 Proceedings of the Eighth Malacological Pontine Meeting, October 4th- 5th, 2014 - San Felice Circeo, Italy INTRODUCTION Vest (1867) d e sc rib ed the genus Sicilicirici for a group of door snail species from Sicily with S. grohmanniana Rossmiissler, 1 836 type species. Adolf Schmidt (1 86 8 ) classified the seven Si- cilian species known so far, into two groups which mainly differ by the formation of the clausilium plate and by sculpture,developmentoflamellae (in- serta, inferior lamella) and palatal plicae. The first group is reported as: “Form enkreis of Septem- plicata ” which includes ClausUia grohmanniana, C. septemplicata Philippi, 1 8 3 6 , C. calcarae Phil- ippi. 1 844, C. confinata Benoit, 1 859 (= scarificata L . P fe iffer, 1 8 5 6), and C. tiberii A. Schmidt, 1868; the second group as “Form enkreis of CrdSSicOStdtd” with C. CrdSSicOStdtd L . Pfeiffer, 1 85 6 and C. Yiobilis L . P fe iffer, 1 8 4 8. O. Boettger (1877) named as Sicilidrid Vest, 1 867 sensu stricto the “Form enkreise of Septeifl- plicdtd" , and as TrindCrid O. Boettger, 1 8 77 the “Form enkreise of CrdSSWOStdtd” . Nordsieck (1979) listed the same species as O. Boettger (1 877) and reunited the species groups (Siciliaria s . str., TrindC- rid (preoccupied) = Sicddid To m lin ) because S. Cdl- CdCdC has an intermediate morphological position. Nordsieck (2002) listed 12 species of Sicilidrid s.str., sub Chdrpentierid ( Sicilidrid ), and classified them in two species groups, based on some shell characters. Nordsieck (2007), in his catalog on world Clausiliidae, listed 12 species with 7 subspecies of Sicilidrid s.str., even as Chdrpentierid ( Sicilidrid ) ■. Sicilidrid {Sicilidrid) cdlcdrae cdlcdrae, S. cdlcdme belliemii (Brandt, 1 9 6 1 ) , S. crdssicostdtd, S. eminens (A. Schimdt, 1 8 6 8 ) , S. ferrox (Brandt, 482 Fabio Liberto et alii 196 1 ), S. grohmanniana , S. leucophryna (L. Pfeiffer, 1 8 62), S. YlobiUs, S. ribewthi (Brandt, 196 1), S. scarificata (L . Pfeiffer, 1 85 6), S. septem- plicata septemplicata , S. septemplicata alcamoensis (Brandt, 1961 ), S. septemplicata hemmeni Beck- m ann, 2004, S. spezialensis (H . N ordsieck, 1 984), S. tiberii tiberii, S. tiberii scalettensis Beckmann, 2004 . This checklist is confirmed by Bank (2011) and by N ordsieck (2013). The genus Sidliarias. str. is endemic to Western Sicily, from Caccamo in the East to the island of M arettim o in the West, and from San Vito lo Capo in the North, to C a s te 1 v e tr an o and Ribera in the South. The hot spot of biodiversity are the moun- tains in the northern part, whereas in the central and southern area (Sicani Mountains) the presence of Siciliaria is discontinuous. The genus Sidliarias. str. is reported in Quaternary deposits of Palermo (D e Gregorio, 1 886: Monte Pellegrino; 1 927: Pietrazzi, Bellolampo; our personal data: Mount Catalfano) and in the Qua ternary deposit ofWied tal-Bahrija in the Island of M alta (Giusti et al., 1 995). Siciliaria scarificata w as discovered by the Si- cilian naturalistLuigiBenoit (1804-1890) who dis- tributed shells of this door snail to his m alacologists colleagues under the name of Clausilia COnfinata. Luis Pfeiffer (1856) published the first valid d e scrip - tion w ith th e name C. Scarificata (Fig. 1) reporting its distribution as “Habitatin Sicilia”. Subsequently, L. Pfeiffer ( 1 859) specified the distribution as “ in insula Maretima Siciliae” . h owever in the course of 1800s and up to about the 1970s most authors used the nam e C. COllfinata B enoit or the incorrect spelling C. Sacrificata Benoit, 1875 (see below). The original description and all subsequent descriptions were based on shell features; while genitalia were never described and illustrated. This paper is intended to redescribe this species in detail (shell and genitalia) and also provided notes about its taxonomy, biology and conservation status. MATERIAL AND METHODS All living specimens were relaxed in water and then preserved in 80% ethanol. Five specimens were anatomically investigated under a Leica MZ12.5 s tere o m ic r o s c o p e using scalpel, scissors and needles. Empty shells were kept dry, and have been measured with a digital gauge. The plicae and lamellae were studied breaking the shells with a scalpel. The method of calculating the number of whorls by Kerney & Cameron (1979) was used. Shell measures were based on the study of 20 spe- cimens. Photos were carried out with a Panasonic Lurnix DMC-FZ20 digital camera. Anatomical details were drawn using a W ild camera lucida. The collection data are listed as follows: State, region, municipality, locality, altitude, dates, collection and number of specimens in parentheses. Toponyms (place-names) are reported following M ap “IGM 1 : 25000, Isola di Marettimo, sheet 256 IV - N.O.”. Each locality and/or collection site is named in the original language (italian). Voucher specimens were stored in the following Museums and private collections: F. Liberto, Cefalu, Italy (LC); Museo N aturalistico F. Mina Palumbo, Castelbuono, Italy (MNMP);A. Reitano, Tremestieri Etneo, Italy (RC); I. Sparacio, Palermo, Italy (SC). CONCHOLOGICAL ACRONYMS. AUPP: Anterior upper palatal plica; CL: columellar lamella; D: shell width; H: shell height; L: lunella; LPP: lower palatal plica (basal plica); PL: parietal lamella; PLL: parallel lamella; PP: principal plica; PUPP: posterior upper palatal plica; SCL: sub- columellar lamella; SL: spiral lamella; SUL: sulcalis; SP: sutural plica. ANATOMICAL AC- RONYMS. BC: bursa copulatrix; BCD: divertic- ulum of bursa copulatrix; DBC: duct of the bursa copulatrix; E: epiphallus; FO: free oviduct; G: penial papilla; GA: genital atrium; P: penis; PR: penial retractor muscle; V: vagina; VD : vas deferens. SYSTEMATICS Family CLAUSILIIDAE J.E. Gray, 1855 Genus Siciliaria vest, 1867 Type species: Clausilia grohmanniana Ross- m assler, 18 3 6 Siciliaria ( Siciliaria ) scarificata (l . p feiffer, 1 8 5 6 ) Clausilia scarificata, L. Pfeiffer, 1856: 1 8 5 , PI. 2, figs. 20-22 - Habitat in Sicilia Clausilia scarificata, L. Pfeiffer, 1 8 5 9 : 765-766 - Habitat in insula Maretima Siciliae Clausilia confinata, Benoit, 1 8 5 9 : PI. 6, fig. 6 Clausilia scarificata, Kuster, 1860-1861: 298, pi. 34, figs. 1-3 - Insel M aretima The endemic door snail of Marettimo (Egadi Islands, Sicily, Italy): Siciliaria scarificata (Pulmonata Clausiliidae) 483 1 ir Marettimo Island / J\ is* » Mediterranean Sea y , m \ 1 ,W / ^ ° r Egadi r \rehipelagoS^ Sicily 2 a V — S Figure i. Reproduction of original drawing of SiciHcirici ( Siciliaria ) Scarificata (L . Pfeiffer, 1 856). Figure 2. Map of Western Sicily, the arrow shows the position of Marettimo. Figures 3, 4. Siciliaria SCa.rifiCQ.ta in natural habitat. Figures 5, 6. Landscape of Marettimo, slope with Mediterranean maquis. Claus ilia confmata, vest, 1 8 6 7 : 1 6 7 Clausilia confinata, A . Schmidt, 1 8 6 8 : 40-42 Claus ilia confinata, Appeiius, 1 8 6 9 : 1 7 3 Medora scarificata, Kobe it, 1 8 7 1 : 39 Clausilia sacrificata, Benoit, 1 8 7 5 : 1 5 2 - isola di M are tim o Siciliaria confinata, m oiiendorff, 1 875: 17 Clausilia confinata, L. Pfeiffer, 1 8 77: 523 - Ins. M a re tim a Siciliae Clausilia {Siciliaria) confinata, o. Boettger, 1 8 7 7 : 33, “gruppe Siciliaria ” - Sicilien Clausilia confinata, W esterlund, 1 8 7 8 : 2 0 - Sicilia Clausilia sacrificata, O. Boettger, 1 8 7 9 : 89, PI. 172, fig . 1731 -InselM are tim o im Wes ten von S icilien Clausilia ( Siciliaria ) sacrificata, Kobe it, 1 8 8 1 : 78 - M aretim o Clausilia confinata, Benoit, 1 8 8 2 : 1 05 - isola di M are tim o 484 Fabio Liberto et alii Clausilia confinata, Westerlund, 1 8 84: 46 - Mare- tim o b e i S ic ilie n Clausilia ( Siciliaria ) confinata, Monterosato, 1 8 9 2 : 28 - Isola di Maretimo Clausilia ( Siciliaria ) confinata, westerlund, 1892:48 Clausilia (Siciliaria) confinata, westerlund, 1 9 0 1 : 39-40, 180 - I. Maretimo Delima ( Siciliaria ) scarificata, Wagner, 1924: 124 - Insel M aretim o im w . Von Sizilien Clausilia (Siciliaria) confinata, Sacchi, 1 9 5 5 : 23 Siciliaria confinata, Sacchi, 1956 : 8-9 Siciliaria Confinata, Sacchi, 1957: 673 Delima (Siciliaria) confinata , Aizona, 1 97 1 : 91 , sectio Siciliaria - Is. M arettimo Siciliaria (Siciliaria) scarificata, n o rd s ieck , 1979 : 259 Siciliaria (Siciliaria) scarificata, Manganeiiietai., 1995: 24,47 - Isola diMarettimo (Egadi) Charpentieria (Siciliaria) scarificata, Nordsieck, 2002: 33-34 Charpentieria (Siciliaria) scarificata, Beckmann, 2004: 186, 188 - Insel M are ttimo Siciliaria scarificata , Fiorentino et ai., 2004 - M arettim o Charpentieria (Siciliaria) scarificata, Nordsieck, 2007: 54 Charpentieria (Siciliaria) scarificata, Bank, 20 1 1 : 2 3 - S ic ily Siciliaria scarificata, Weiter-Shuites, 2012 : 342 - S. Italy, M arettim o island Siciliaria (Siciliaria) scarificata, n 01 -dsieck, 2013 : 1-14 Type locality. M arettimo (Egadi Islands, Sicily, Italy). This species was comunicated by the naturalist Luigi Benoit to L. Pfeiffer who published the first valid description reporting its distribution as “Habitat in Sicilia” (L. Pfeiffer, 1 85 6). Examined material. Italy, Sicily, Favignana, Island of Marettimo (Egadi Islands), Punta Troia, 50 m, VIII. 1997, 3 shells (RC); idem, Case Romane, 200 m, VI. 2005, 23 shells (RC); idem, VI. 2005, 4 shells (RC); idem, from Case Romane to Monte Falcone 300-680 m, 30. V. 2010, 11 spe- cimens, 60 shells, (LC 802 1-8096); idem, VI. 2005, 3 shells (MNMP); idem, contrada Pelosa, 60 m, 30. V. 2010, 16 specimens and 42 shells (SC); idem, Case Romane, 200 m, 30. V. 2010, 18 shells (SC). Original description. L. Pfeiffer (1 85 6): “ T. rimata,fusiformis, truncata, solida, confertim plicato- costulata, purpurascenti-fusca; spira ventrosa, sublate decollata; sutura albo-papillata; anfr. superst. 7 1/2 convexiusculi, ultimus basi breviter cristatus; apertura piriformis; lamella supera exigua, marginem non attingens, infera valida, arcuatim ascendens; lunella distincta, angusta, flexuosa; plicae palatales 3, suprema elongata, secunda brevior, antice callosa, tertia infera, sub- columellari parallela; perist. hepaticum, con- tinuum, breviter solutum, undique expansum et re- flexiusculum. - Long, (trunc.) 17, diam. 5 mill. Ap. 5 mill, longa, 4 lata ” . Diagnosis. Terrestrial pulmonate snail with shell sinistral, fusiform, b r o w n -p u rp lis h in color; aperture with five lamellae (on parietum and columellar side) and lunella and five plicae (on palatum); in particular high columellar (lower parietal) lamella, ascending in a double “S” curve; a wide anterior upper palatal plica; long basal plica; short sulcalis; genitalia are characterized by very short bursa copulatrix duct, short diverticulum of bursa copulatrix; penial papilla conic and short. Description (Figs. 7-14). Shell sinistral, fusi- form, elongated, generally decollated, rather thick and robust, b ro w n -p u rp lis h in color, with apertural margin light brownish; obtuse apex; external sur- face with transverse ribs, 8.5 ribs per 2 mm of the penultimate whorl (10 specimens); spire with 9-10 slightly convex whorls (7 in decollate shells), slowly and regularly growing; sutures shallow, with slightly evident papillae (papillae more numerous along sutures from level with first 3-7 whorls); basal keel little distinct; umbilicus closed; aperture oval, with five lamellae (on parietum and columel- lar side) and lunella and five plicae (on palatum). On palatum there is a short lunella and starting from suture: a thin sutural plica very close to suture; a well raised principal plica; a wide anterior upper pal- atal plica, separated from or connected with upper palatal plica; long basal plica, internal beginning of which is joined to the base of lunella; a short sul- calis (Figs. 15, 16). A relatively conspicuous callos- ity on the upper external border of palatum embedding external apexes of upper palatal plica and principal plica. On parietum, starting from su- ture; there are: parallel lamella very thin or absent; non emergent spiral lamella in the centre of pari- The endemic door snail of Marettimo (Egadi Islands, Sicily, Italy): Siciliaria scarificata (Pulmonata Clausiliidae) 485 Figures 7-10. Shells of SiciUcirici (SiciliCLfici) SCCLrifiCQ-tCl (L . Pfeiffer, 1 856), Island of Marettimo, S icily, Italy (CL 8032), H: 17.8 m m , D : 5 mm. Figures 11-14. idem, (CL 8033), H: 18.1 mm, D : 4.6 mm. 486 Fabio Liberto et alii AUPP 17 CL PL PLL SL ■ta X u 18 L 21 SCL Figures 15-2 1. SiciUarid (SiciUariO) scarificata (L . Pfeiffer, 1 8 5 6), Island of Marettimo, S icily, Italy. Figures 15, 16 palatum (CL 8083, 8084). Figures 17, 18: parietum (CL 8085, 8088), Figures 19-21: clausilium (CL 8094-8096). The endemic door snail of Marettimo (Egadi Islands, Sicily, Italy): Siciliaria scarificata (Pulmonata Clausiliidae) 487 Figure 22. Genitalia o f Siciliaria ( Siciliaria > scarificata (L. Pfeiffer, 1 856), island of m arettimo, Sicily, Italy. Figure 23. Internal ornam entation of penis, w ith penial papilla (same specimen of Fig. 22). Figure 24. Internal ornamentation of epiphallus (CL 8022). 488 Fabio Liberto et alii etum ; tooth-like (upper) parietal lamella; high columellar (lower parietal) lamella, ascending in a double “ S ” curve; scarcely emergent subcolumellar lamella (Figs. 17, 18). Peristome continuous, thickened,reflected, fused above to last who rl w all. Normal type clausilial apparatus, with palatal edge of clausilium plate somewhat bent up, outer corner more or less pointed, sutural angle bent up (Figs. 19-21). The outer edge of the clausilium plate rests against the lunella and the sulcalis in the closed p o sitio n . Body. Animal narrow, posteriorly pointed, skin yellowish in color with bro w n-greysh tubercles; foot narrow with sole paler than body, bipartite by an indistinct longitudinal central groove and with margins divided by small parallel radial groove (5 specim. in alcohol preserved). Genitalia (Figs. 22-24). General scheme of semidiaulic monotrematic type. Gen it alia consisting of large ovotestis with many close acini; long thin, convoluted hermaphrodite duct; very large, albumen gland; well developed o v isp e rrn id u c t, formed by female portion externally regularly subdivided and spaced by annular constrictions, large prostatic portion and seminal groove externally not visible; slender free oviduct (2.6 mm); bursa copulatrix comp lex consist of slender copula to ry duct (2.9 mm) which branches in very short bursa copulatrix duct with leaf-like bursa copulatrix (2 mm), and slight longer diverticulum of bursa copulatrix (3.6 mm in length); vagina (1.8 mm in length) uniform in diameter for almost its entire length; vas deferens long and slender, entering epiphallus; epiphallus (3.9 mm) divided by point of insertion of robust penial retractor muscle into conical proximal portion and shorter cylindrical distal portion; a swelling is present at the transition p e n is-ep ip h allu s ; cylindrical penis (2.4 mm in length) slightly wider than vagina. Internal walls of penis with two furrows; relatively short, conic penial papilla with rounded apex (Fig. 23). Internal walls of epiphallus covered with small papille and crossed by two low pleats (Fig. 24). Distribution and Biology. Siciliaria SCari- ficata is endemic of the Island of Marettimo, the wes tern most of the Egadi Islands, in Wes tern Sicily (Fig. 2). It lives in limes to ne habitat with Mediter- ranean maquis, on walls and in the crevices of cal- careous rocks, under stones, in conoids of debris and at the base of cliffs (Figs. 3-6). Remarks. Nordsieck (2002) classified the 12 species of Siciliaria s. str. in two groups, based on some shell characters. The first group is named “ flobiliS-CCllcCirCie” and is characterized by: columellar lamella (inferior lamella) low to mod- erately high, mostly only one anterior upper palatal plica present, clausilium plate distally not m arkedly narrowed, outer corner blunt to pointed. This group is further divided into two subgroups: “ tlobiUs” sub- group (S. nobilis, S. spezialensis , S. crassicostata , and S. eminens) has palatal edge of clausilium plate not upbent; “ CCllcGrCl6” subgroup ( S . CCllcClVCie, S. tiberii, and S. leucophryna) has palatal edge of clausilium plate more or less upbent. The second principal group is named “ grohmanniana” ( S . grohmanniana , S. septemplicata , and S. scari- ficata), it is characterized by columellar lamella high, two anterior upper palatal plicae present, clausilium plate distally narrow ed with outer corner more or less pointed. Sidlicirici ferrOX and S. riberothi were not included in none of these groups because of ambiguous character combinations. Siciliaria scarificata is considered transitional to the two principal groups, because it has inferior lamella less high, second anterior upper palatal plica missing, clausilium plate distally less nar- rowed. Nordsieck (2013) re affirm s S. Scarificata is closely related to the other species of the “ grohman- niana ” group. At present it is difficult to establish the real affinity between these species using only morpho- logical observations. Consequently, discussion of the relationships o f S. Scarificata is postponed to when more data (molecular data in particular) will b e a v ailab le . Here we add some morphological data for the “ grohmanniana ” group not considered by Nordsieck (2002; 2013 ). Siciliaria grohmanniana has a small "inserta lamella" (0.7 mm) placed between the columellar lamella and the spiral lamella, running from the point of arrest of clausil- ium outward. This lamella, reported by A. Schmidt (1868) for S. grohmanniana and also for S. septem- plicata, is absent in S. scarificata. Siciliaria grohmanniana and S. septemplicata have a shorter sulcalis compared with S. Scarificata. Welter- Shultes (2012) reports on a su b c lau s tr alis , which we don’t recognize. The genitalia of S. Scarificata are similar to those of other species of Siciliaria s. str. known: S. The endemic door snail of Marettimo (Egadi Islands, Sicily, Italy): Siciliaria scarificata (Pulmonata Clausiliidae) 489 septemplicata { Wagner, 1 9 1 3 , pi. 572, fig. 14), S. grohmanniana (Wagner, 1925 , pi. 1 , fig. 8) S. calcarae (w agner, 1925 , pi. 3 , fig. 25 ), S. ferrox (Brandt, 1961, p. 7, 13, fig. 1). The duct of the bursa copulatrix is very short, and the diverticulum is slightly longer of the duct of the bursa copulatrix + bursa copulatrix; cylindricalpenis; slight swelling at the conjunction p e n is -ep ip h allu s . Westerlund (1 892) described two varieties of S. scarificata (sub confinata )■. C. confinata merens Westerlund, 1 8 92, locus typicus “Sicilien, in der Provinz Palermo”, which is a synonym of S. leucophryna (see Nordsieck, 2013), syntype in Goteborg Natural History Museum n° 2638, and C. confinata commeata westerlund, 1 892, locus tipicus “Sicilien, bei Trabia” which is a probable older synonym of S. fCTYOX B randt, 1961 (Reitano et al., 2007, Nordsieck, 2013). Conservation status. Although S. scarificata has a scattered distribution over the whole island, its limited distribution to Marettimo justified an assessment as Lower Risk (Near Threatened) [NT, nt]. The Island of Marettimo is included in the SICp “Isola diMarettimo” (ITA 010002) and in the ZPS “Arcipelago delle Egadi - area marina e ter- restre” (ITA 0 1 0027), however S. Scarificata is not protected by any specific regulam entation or law, although it should be strongly reco mended. Sug- gested measures include sympathetic habitat man- agement and population monitoring. REFERENCES Alzona C ., 1971. 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